Shipping is the exporting of goods from one location to the other. That is the exporting of goods from the depot to the consumers. This process includes the packing and handling of the goods, and it is regulated by the shipping carriers or a particular company. The distributors will grant higher charges to the e-commerce shipping companies. It increases its shipping charges upon overnight shipping. Let us know ‘Why Is Shipping So Expensive?’.
Why Is Shipping So Expensive?
Shipping is an expensive procedure due to the packing and handling of the product, weight, and dimensions of the package, containers, and carriers to be used for delivery. There are reasonable ways to reduce the high expense of shipping slightly.
Motive For Expensive Shipping
Shipping vehicles depends upon the location and the needed speed of delivery. Ground Shipping is the most low-cost shipping process, which is also a slow process. It takes 10 working days or more for delivery. Air Freight’s shipping method is fast and yet expensive. Ocean shipping is another method of shipping that is low-cost, but it takes 6weeks or more for completion of delivery.
Reasons behind high-cost shipping:
High Transportation Costs
High transportation costs may occur due to the packaging and handling of the products. The destination of the product to be reached also makes the transportation cost high. There are certain shipping runners issues such as expensive gas prices, airplane fuel costs, and insufficient cargo space shipping. Supply chain troubles are also the reason for higher costs.
Shipping Of Expensive Commodities
Wheat, iron, cereal, gold, coffee, pepper, etc are essential commodities for the economy to function well. Therefore, shipping of these commodities to the same or other buyers in a limited quantity will result in high shipping charges.
Port Congestion
Shipping carriers cannot load or unload the packages as it is overfed. Thus, the carriers need to wait for days or weeks to unload the packages. Shipping carriers have to make multiple shipments for carrying limited containers on each trip. This method is ineffective and expensive.
Steady Consumer Demand
Consumers buy a lot of high-demand products. The price variations in the supply chain force online businesses to raise the price of products, and this results in high shipping costs.
Shipping Rates
It is important to know about the actual shipping rates inferred by the carriers. Shipping carriers determine the shipping rates by considering many facets. Shipping is a complex process of higher prices. The factors determining the shipping rates are the parcel weight, dimensions, price, and destinations. Bulky packages ask for high charges to ship. The other factors determining shipping rates are as follows:
- The variation in product charges adds up quickly to the shipping fees.
- The carriers include fuel surcharges in the total shipping rates.
- Customers approve spending more than their exact charge under the courier agreement. This includes the minimum packaging charges.
- Area surcharges address correction fees, and residential fees add up to the shipping rates.
- The service charges of warehouse workers, carrier drivers, and other workers will also determine the increase in shipping rates.
E-Commerce Shipping Rates
The deficit of shipping carriers, weak cargo shipping, and the rise in e-commerce shopping modes also became a factor in the high expense of shipping. Some unexpected hesitations make the delivery slow, and thus expensive.
Free Shipping
Free shipping is a trick of online retailers to gain more customers. It will considerably reduce the profit margin from the store where the price of the product is high. The seller will deem the charges of the making of the product, taxes, packaging, and handling services. Most online marts provide free shipping services when you reach the cross amount for multiple orders.
Flat-Rate Shipping
This is a low-cost shipping policy. Here, the store carrier taxes the same shipping fee on all orders without concern for the price of the product. The rates are charged based on the weight and dimensions of the package. This mode uses USPS for shipping. The package must weigh under 70lbs and the package will arrive in 1 to 3 business days.
Real-time Carrier Rates
This is one of the prominent ways e-commerce dealers can wield to attain orders. The buyers can see the rates and other details the next moment they put up the order.
Economical Ways Of Shipping
There are some reasonable ways of the shipping process. Takeaway the points below:
- USPS first class mail is an effective way of shipping. The shipping charges open at $2.74 for commercial delivery and $3.80 for personal delivery. This method of shipping makes sure that your package is lightweight.
- Air Freight is the fastest way of shipping mode, but it is expensive. Levi’s, Tommy Hilfiger, and other brands use this mode of shipping to reduce costs.
- Change your manufacturing locations.
- Program the advanced deliveries for at least five weeks.
- When customers are close to your manufacturing depot, you can request self-delivery which is under your delivery root.
- Balance your workloads by customizing delivery routes.
Shipping Cost Reduction
Here are some methods of reducing the high-cost shipping process slightly:
- Distinguish courier costs and choose the most prominent one.
- Provide a pick-up at your location.
- Reduce the packaging fees.
- Do bulk shipping
- Volunteer a third party for tracking package orders.
- Change containers from cartons to poly mailers.
Conclusion
Shipping is so expensive and thus about 45% of online buyers discontinue their shopping online. Packaging and handling, the destination of delivery, and shipping carriers are the main factors of high-cost shipping. Shipping costs can be reduced reasonably by adjusting some values. A shipping calculator can be used to know about the shipping fee charged depending on the destination of delivery. USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL are the most used effective shipping carriers.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How long does it take for ocean shipping?
Ocean shipping takes 20 to 45 working days or more for the complete shipping process.
2. Which is the most low-cost shipping carrier?
USPS is a common choice of the low-cost shipping carrier.
