The subscription box craze has taken over the market. From canine lovers to beauty experts, there’s a subscription box designed uniquely for you. Similar to opening a present from a friend, subscription box recipients open up a box full of surprises that are custom-tailored to their personal preferences. What’s not to love about getting a box full of goodies dropped on your doorstep every month?
Today there’s a subscription service for just about every niche imaginable: Fashion, pet food, makeup, video games, books, food, razors, and chickens. Yes, even chickens. As popularity continues to soar, it’s important to continually identify ways to save money as a subscription box service. Especially since shipping costs are constantly rising.
Ship subscription boxes from a central location
Shipping carriers use zone 1 to zone 8 to measure the distance a package travels from the point of origin to the destination within the United States. These zones are measured by zip codes instead of miles. For example, if you ship from Dallas, Texas to Chicago, Illinois you are shipping to Zone 5. If you ship from Los Angeles California to Chicago, Illinois, you are shipping to Zone 6. The higher the zone, the more money it will cost you.
If you are shipping around the nation equally, the best move is to have a centrally located shipping location. If for some reason, the majority of your shipments are coming from California, that central location wouldn’t make sense. If you find you are shipping Zone 5 more frequently, there are ways to negotiate those rates to favor your business.
Know everything about your shipping process
Not only is knowledge power, but having an in-depth understanding of your shipping process will directly impact your potential savings. What are the dimensions and weight of your subscription box? Does this fluctuate every month or is there a cap on the weight allowed? Is your package the smallest it can possibly be without sacrificing the protection of items or are you leaving too much extra space in the package? What surcharges are most common on your carrier invoice? Have you compared carrier services to determine the route to take for the highest cost savings?
Negotiate a better carrier agreement
If a shipper completely understands the terms on their carrier agreements and has the data to support their claims this provides a competitive edge during negotiation. Reps are experts at making shippers feel like they are in control to get them to drop their guard. For example, a rep might give you a better discount on Ground for 1-5 pound packages. Initially, this sounds like a winning deal. But if the shipper doesn’t realize the minimum charge listed in the agreement is too high to receive the discount, this ends up being a loss. Even if you have a cordial relationship with your rep, his or her goal is to walk away with profit for his business at the end of the day.
That’s why it’s important to work with Share A Refund and its team of logistics veterans. The carrier agreement optimization team at Share A Refund has reviewed thousands of carrier contracts and has extensive experience negotiating successful rates for businesses of all sizes. No shipping contract or profile is too complex.
They are trained to dissect every single line item, looking for areas to make agreement adjustments. Broad experience and comprehensive knowledge are leveraged to assess your historical shipping data, analyze your current costs, compare to industry averages, and validate your key performance indicators. Share A Refund looks at your business in its entirety to optimize supply chain processes along with carrier agreements.
Related:4 mistakes to avoid during carrier agreement negotiations
Shipment audit and recovery
With your contract officially optimized, the next step is to audit shipments for any type of service failure or overcharge. If UPS or FedEx delivered your package late, you are eligible for a full refund. Share A Refund eliminates shipment auditing errors to secure full refunds. The software works in the background to provide seamless integration without disrupting daily workflow.
A small fee might seem insignificant when it’s isolated, but for subscription box companies those small-change fees can add up to thousands of dollars lost over the year. Consider someone who spends $6 dollars a day on coffee. It doesn’t seem like much when looking at it on a daily basis, but calculating that $2,190 was spent by the end of the year makes you question if that money could have been invested better.
Related: Share A Refund expedites the shipment auditing process
Get the savings your subscription box company deserves
Shipping is one of the biggest costs for a subscription box business. Don’t let those costs eat away at your bottom line. Whether you just kicked off your subscription box service or you’ve been on the market for a while, it’s important to evaluate your shipping costs on a regular basis. Share A Refund scales with your business and keeps up with the needs of a growing company. Partner with a parcel management service that will help you see shipping invoices lowered each week.
