Simple Strategies to Minimize E-commerce Delivery Costs in Los Angeles

Behind the success and positive trends of the e-commerce industry lies the burdens of cost laid on every e-commerce business. E-commerce businesses deal with significant costs in ensuring the availability and delivery of products to customers. Customer demands and behavior worsen the situation as several Los Angeles online shoppers now want the free delivery incentive while other customers want faster or expedited delivery. These factors push up e-commerce delivery costs in Los Angeles. 

Once the delivery cost becomes a burden, it reduces your profit margin as an e-commerce business. Your way out is to adopt e-commerce delivery cost optimization strategies as explained in this post.

Outsource to an Affordable Regional Carrier

In several cases, e-commerce businesses find it challenging to cater to the delivery demands of their large customer base. This has triggered the emergence of regional carriers offering e-commerce delivery services within Los Angeles and neighboring areas. Regional carriers will charge a flat fee or an agreed rate depending on the contract terms or nature of delivery. This will save you the cost of processing individual deliveries within a period. 

A further breakdown can go thus- You employ the services of a carrier with an agreed bi-weekly or monthly fee. This carrier will handle your delivery needs within that month and save you the cost of delivering to different customers at different times. 

Employing the services of a regional carrier provides you with the platform to negotiate a discount. There are several carriers with affordable delivery services in Los Angeles that offers a discount to e-commerce businesses. 

Stay Up-to-date With Standard Industry Factors and Rate

Delivery cost isn’t constant as it fluctuates depending on the industry's prevailing factors. Factors such as changes in customer preference (Fast and free delivery), high demand, especially in festive periods or holidays, fuel price fluctuations, etc, affect the cost of delivery. 

In the case of free delivery, e-commerce businesses will not attract any payment compensation for delivery and will have to fulfill the need from their purse. Times of high demand mean more delivery activity which attracts more delivery resources and costs. When fuel prices are high, it draws more funds out of the purse. All these factors create a standard delivery rate in the e-commerce space at the time. 

With this knowledge, e-commerce businesses can find alternatives such as:

• Slight increase in product price to help meet the cost
• Negotiate a better payment plan with carriers
• Carry customers along in extreme cases

Analyze and Optimize Your Packaging Materials/System

Package sizes and dimensions are key factors in determining delivery cost. Carriers often charge based on package size and dimension. Hence it is vital to analyze and optimize your packaging materials. Smaller boxes should be used for small and lightweight items. The weight and size of the box add up with the item to determine the cost. 

In the case where the items are heavy such as computers, pans, etc, you can bargain for a flat fee rather than the carrier charging per unit of the item or package. The bottom line is to do all that is possible to reduce the size and weight of your packages. 

Proper Delivery Schedule

In Los Angeles, there are customers with different needs. Some need expedited delivery while others demand a normal delivery time. You should be committed to an efficient order management system to ensure that items are delivered when due. This will prevent a situation of putting an item on expedited delivery when it was not originally an expedited order. This means you get to pay extra costs for the urgency of delivering the item that was meant to be delivered in a normal time frame of lower cost. 

When such an occurrence happens frequently, you cumulatively increase your delivery cost over time. 

Prevent Returns

Returns are not good for business as it means that the item will need to be delivered again. When customers are not satisfied upon receiving their ordered items, they may reject the items and demand a replacement. Some causes of returns include:

• Late delivery
• The delivery of wrong items or packages
• The delivery of damaged items 

All these lead to repackaging and redelivering the item which will attract extra cost. Hence preventing returns technically saves you the extra cost of additional delivery. Some tips to prevent returns include:

• Optimize your order fulfillment such as picking, sorting, and packing to ensure that the right item is packaged for the right customer.
• Check item quality before delivery
• Embrace proper order management and delivery schedule to ensure timely delivery. 

Deliverthis Can Help

Although there are several strategies to minimize e-commerce delivery costs in Los Angeles, outsourcing to a regional carrier is the most effective. Deliverthis steps in to save the day by offering cheap delivery services in Los Angeles.

With Deliverthis, you can deliver a wide range of items including lightweight and heavy items. You get access to discounts and flat fees for heavier items as this is our specialty. It is an era for e-commerce businesses to enjoy delivery speed, efficiency, and less cost.