Business is all about being optimized and prepared. You are making sure that your business is running as smoothly, quickly, and efficiently as possible. This does involve making sure you have a correct frameworks in place to make sure things happen when they’re supposed to happen—leaving as little to chance as possible.
You will need to keep a close eye on several areas within your business when you are running a product-based business.
Of course, your primary focus after sales is getting the products to your customers most cost-effectively and speedily. Here are a few tips to help you optimize your shipping process.
Designated shipment dates
Suppose you have many deliveries in the same region. And they tend to be pretty sporadic, or it’s an area that doesn’t have any main roads, or is very remote and the shipping is more expensive due to the remote location, then designated shipping date options may help.
Have set shipping dates together for specific regions, cities, and countries will help you save money. Having a single shipping date available per week on your website so people can book accordingly can save time and money. This is very useful for small businesses and ideal for fresh produce.
Tracking
If you have a range of your trucks or vans, it is essential that you can track them. This means you can give the customer on almost the exact time that your vehicle will arrive; there are a few things that you can do you here.
You can have your fleet kitted out with a range of technology, including GPS tracking and dash cams for trucks. Not only is this good for the customer and your business, but it is also a great safety thing for your fleet.
Customers
We all know that customers expect the goods on the doorstep the next day, and in some cases, the same day—the closer that you can get your products to your regular customers, the better. As a small company, that can take some time, and it might involve working with retailers or other warehouses that are closer to that region.
Try to look at where your most significant client base is and get your products as close as possible.
Unfortunately, well last-mile delivery isn’t always within your control, but sure you use a courier with the best reputation in that region. It’s essential to run some small tests on a number of operatives and see which ones perform best.
Back Hauls
Each ship and lorry freight will need to return to whence it came. What does this mean? It means that you can make use of those return journeys. You can use the backhaul time to negotiate credit, and perhaps even get a shipment back to the warehouse at a reduced cost.
It is essential that if you use the same freight company, you have a few conversations to find out what is possible when it comes to saving money and streamlining your more important shipping requirements.
And finally, you can take a look at your purchasing data and see if you can negotiate co-ops and warehouse space in different locations.