One of the strings to our bow here at Atreus involves supporting people who sell products on the internet with most aspects of their business.
As well as handling your accounting functions, the e-commerce firms we work with are always looking for the perfect delivery partner.
E-commerce shipping is the point at which your customer experiences your product in person. It can also represent a major business expense.
It’s so important to map out a defined product shipping strategy to enable your e-commerce business to fulfil online orders.
But, postage and delivery costs can eat into your profits, while choosing the wrong delivery firm can lead to lost or damaged consignments.
That usually creates additional costs when you provide customer refunds and you could potentially lose out on their future business.
Whether you’re a bricks-and-mortar retailer with items for sale on a website or you have a side gig making products to sell online, here’s what our clients tell us is working for them.
Pros & cons around delivery
When it comes to shipping rates and methods, one potential advantage is that you can pass the full costs onto your customers.
A few of our clients have been caught out by product weight, so make sure you measure the weight of each product to have a full picture of costs.
A cost-effective tip when it comes to delivering your online orders is to actively source your packaging. Some couriers even offer it for free.
If you’re going down the route of having branded packaging, make sure you factor in those costs and include this in any flat-fee delivery charge.
Reputation vs. cost
The UK logistics industry has arguably never been more competitive since the onset of the pandemic and there’s usually a deal to suit every vendor.
Some couriers might have a poor reputation. Others will have high costs and you have to weigh that up when it comes to your choice.
Customers rate UPS as one of the least popular major couriers in the UK, according to TrustPilot, whereas DPD, Hermes and Yodel are fairly popular.
Whichever courier you end up choosing, do your homework on all of them before you sign on the dotted line.
Cost-benefit calculations
Considering this blog post centres on keeping costs to a minimum, it would be remiss of us not to mention the importance of cost-benefit analysis.
When used properly, this is a useful method which helps inform your decision-making by measuring the costs and benefits.
If you can’t decide which courier to go with, we will weigh up tangible and intangible costs and benefits to help you decide on which action to take.
Given the costs that can be involved in this decision, it’s vitally important to take the time to do a cost-benefit calculation – and Atreus can help.
We are specialist accountants for internet traders, so call us on 01202 052276 or email us as info@atreusaccountants.co.uk today.