Optimisting Postage/Shipping
Jul-2008
After starting up my own eCommerce Business, Hello Baby, I have been somewhat forced into the exciting world of postage. This I think is one of those things which no-one really writes about, so here are my thoughts on the most efficient way of getting things out the door.
Using Mailing sacks
Polythene mailing sacks are much quicker to use than brown paper and cheaper than jiffy bags. Most things that we send out are boxed and so don’t really need any additional packaging.
Use a Franking machine
Franking machines are expensive (mine cost about £300) but save both time in going to the post office and money (the postage is cheaper). We have just printed out address onto the end of our franking labels so that each package only needs two labels, the address label and the franking label.
Don’t Use Recorded Delivery
My experience of running an eBay Drop Shop made me start off sending everything recorded delivery. This is all very time consuming and make postage more expensive for my customers. Overall for low priced items I think it is unnecessary.
Use Labels, not Document Wallets
If your eCommerce software allows you to print address lables, this is much faster than using document wallets, which are a bit fiddley.
Thanks, this is good advice. We are switching from bubble mailers (jiffylite) to polyolefin mailers to save on weight and materials cost. Even saving 1 ounce can be substantial considering the volume we ship. The poly mailer also costs about 10 cents less and requires less space to store. We can not use poly for everything, but we are using it where we can. As customers continue to demand competitive pricing, we are looking at ways to reduce cost without sacrificing quality.
Better still use a fulfillment company for stocking and despatch, which will free up your time to become much more productive.
I suppose if you’re selling light, small goods with a decent margin — its easy enough to outsource some of your fulfillment. It really depends on how your business is organized and what you sell. Fulfillment is not for everybody.
Even more reason if you have heavy objects and limited space, handling equipment. You don’t have to worry about looking after staff and wages.
I admit fulfilment is not for everyone but it takes a huge weight of a companies shoulders if they want to expand quickly.