The USPS is the U.S. Postal Service, an agency of the United States government. In simple terms, the USPS is responsible for delivering packages and mail to us. It also provides insurance for its employees and other recipients .

USPS insurance is an optional insurance policy given to employees and couriers who work at the USPS. It’s sold by the USPS itself and is meant to protect the employee from any type of loss or damage to their personal property due to a fire, theft, or other such event. There are a variety of different insurance policies and you’ll have to use the USPS website to go through the application process.

Regardless of the size of your e-commerce, reviewing your strategies from time to time is crucial to realize the points where it is possible to improve, adopting a more competitive posture. Reducing the cost of shipping for the consumer, whenever possible, is a good example of a measure that can have a very positive impact on your sales. However, free shipping, sought after by most consumers, simply does not exist. That is, every time a store offers free shipping, someone else pays this bill, in this case, the e-commerce itself. So how can you use this strategy to increase your sales?

Once you understand how to calculate shipping costs, you have one more piece of information to draw from when looking to save costs in other areas, so that you can incorporate the cost of shipping and offer this benefit to your customers.

Here are some tips that can help you in this task:

1 – Share the costs with your customers

Absorbing part of the cost of shipping and charging a reduced amount to the consumer is a great way to differentiate yourself from the competition, increasing your chances of attracting and retaining new customers. However, for the implementation of this strategy, an exhaustive evaluation of the financial capacity of the company is necessary, in order to ensure that this cost overrun does not compromise its profitability, causing losses.

2 – Reduce your operational costs

Good management of logistics costs can contribute in various ways to the reduction of operating expenses within a company. The implementation of strategies aimed at reducing waste, increasing productivity, automating routines, among many other actions, is examples of practices that directly influence pricing.

The use of a transportation management system (TMS) can be very helpful in this regard. This software can reduce costs by automating various activities, including calculating the cost of delivery. By saving in these areas, you will be able to absorb more of the cost of shipping, offering lower values ​​to your customers and prospects.

3 – Negotiate with carriers

Contracting with more than one carrier is a great strategy to have more value options.

Furthermore, comparing prices and negotiating discounts is always a good alternative to achieve cost reduction, which can be passed on to your customers without compromising the profitability of your sales.

4 – Be innovative

A great alternative is to offer customers the ability to pick up orders in person, either at the store or at another pick-up point.

This practice is known as Click & Collect or Buy Online Pick Up In Store (BOPIS), and is already common in countries like Brazil, according to a Manhattan Associates survey that found that 60% of consumers who buy online They prefer to pick up their products at a physical store.

Using this strategy can bring benefits to both the retailer and the consumer.

For the customer:

• Reduce the waiting time to receive the product.
• Eliminate shipping cost.
• Facilitates the exchange or return process, if necessary.

For the company:

• Reduce logistics cost related to delivery.
• Take the customer to the store, creating the possibility of making new sales and increasing the average ticket.

Do you need help managing your processes?

Even knowing how to calculate shipping costs, in the midst of the day-to-day hustle and bustle. It is always good to have specialized support. Capable of solving logistical issues like this and many others.

Maplink, for example, develops solutions that allow you to use geolocation intelligence to improve integration between online and offline channels, by integrating your system with the Google Maps APIs. But how does it work in practice?

• It enables the user to buy online and pick up at a physical store, or vice versa.
• It allows you to send orders automatically.
• It makes it easy to control delivery in real time, taking into account the characteristics of your company.
• It gives you the possibility to create visit routes for internal teams that go to the field.
• And many other solutions!

Interested? Get in touch with one of our specialists and discover. How we can help your business to be at the level of large companies. Such as Nestlé Danone, Mastellone, Musimundo, Colun, Brinks, BRF and more!

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