Easy and Affordable Small Business Shipping
After all the challenges 2020 has thrown at us, looking toward the future may include making fundamental changes to your supply chain and shipping strategy that’ll help you save money, increase efficiencies and improve the customer experience. Keep reading for tips and best practices on how to make small business shipping easy and affordable.
Regulating Packaging and Inventory
Making small business shipping easy and affordable starts with two things, product inventory, and packaging supplies management. Forging healthy relationships with manufacturers and suppliers and working with them to fulfill your capacity demands in an appropriate amount of time is a big challenge for supply chains today. Think of it as a symbiotic relationship. You rely on your manufacturers and suppliers, and they rely on you. Working as a team, communicating your business needs clearly, and being flexible will go a long way. But if issues arise, there are ways to alleviate the troubles.
One way to mitigate problems is to have a plan. Think ahead and maintain enough inventory on hand, so you don’t have to worry about a shortage. In times like these, surplus supplies and inventory don’t seem quite like the costly burdens they once were. These extra supplies and inventory are advantages as you look ahead to shipping during the holiday season, for example.
Keep track of your inventory and supplies, so you can reorder items in plenty of time before you get too low. This will help you stay on track with your plan and help your suppliers not get bogged down in last-minute, high-demand orders.
Having enough packaging materials for packaging and shipping your freight properly is vital too. After all, you can’t ship anything if it’s not packaged correctly. For a comprehensive look into internal and external packaging materials as well as some best practices, check out our Guide to Freight Packaging.
