Ecommerce businesses are life-changing but they can also carve a hole in your pocket. There should be a way to avoid that and make your investments worth the money.
The real question is how do we reduce these ecommerce costs and maintain our status? It is important to maintain the reputation of our company. and Reducing these costs will not only give you the benefit of profitability but it will also help you remain in healthy competition.
E-commerce businesses are growing a lot as the years go by, and all kinds of companies are finding their place in this world. It is only increasing the competition among them all. It is important to find ways to cut costs that will help your ecommerce business flourish. Communicating with suppliers, and manufacturers and having a plan are just a few things that can get you there.
To save those extra bucks, here are a few simple ways to reduce ecommerce costs for your businesses!
7 Steps to Reduce E-commerce Cost
Did you know that there are more than 24 million ecommerce websites all over the internet? and you can be one of them! If big companies like Amazon can do it, so can you! We are here to help you out. It won’t come without some sweat and tears but you won’t have to do it alone.
Ecommerce sales have almost reached up to $6.5 trillion in 2023 recent years and it’s only growing.
THE ADVANTAGES OF ECOMMERCE BUSINESSES
- Your businesses can reach customers all over the world.
- Your restrictions decrease and you have more chances to spread awareness about your business to others.
- Guaranteed products can help people feel safer and more confident to purchase from you. Even attractive deals like 1-day delivery catch their attention. There are more techniques like “guarantee” where people feel confident enough to buy from you and promises like 1-day delivery are very attractive.
- Managing different components like marketing, packaging, storage etc. together can be very beneficial for your company.
Systematic logistics will help you to have a healthy running business, you should have someone right to rely on to cut down your shipping, and packaging costs. The supply chain costs, if handled well, can help you reduce eCommerce costs by a significant margin. This process can become a lot easier if you trust the right people with it – like our ithinklogistics team.
You’ll receive benefits, you focus on other business goals like marketing, sourcing and manufacturing etc. Systematic logistics can save your packaging, storage and transportation costs and help you build a good relationship with your brands.
There are numerous ways by which you can sustain your business and can keep it productive, and stable.
A Good Deal With the suppliers
- The more products you purchase, the more discounts you get. Buying in bulk can increase your chances of getting more discounts as you continue your business with those suppliers. It also shows that you are committed and you are not playing around. You can secure an “early bird” discount ranging from 2-5 per cent initially which can very well increase if you continue business with those suppliers in the long run.
- Under the “fixed price break” rule, you can acquire more discounts if you surpass the fixed amount of supply you can buy, and even cut down on your shipping costs! You also need to be careful about your storage costs- when you order in bulk, make sure you’re not cutting down on your margin because of increased storage costs.
- E-commerce shipping costs can’t always be cut down so be prepared to go through the supplier’s terms and conditions and take advantage of their policies. You can find ways to cut down some components of shipping costs by using the opportunities of seasonal free shipping, domestic and international thresholds, and membership with the suppliers, all of which can benefit you for a lifetime.
This type of foresight can help you cut down on a lot of unnecessary ecommerce costs and save you some of that extra cash!
You can also Read Importance Of Packaging And Labeling In eCommerce Marketing
Managing Product Packaging
A lot goes into product packaging, labelling, wrapping, boxing and so many other processes.
You can reduce ecommerce packaging costs by determining what is rightly needed. The right size and the right amount can cut down your packaging costs by a lot.
- For protection uses, try to use lightweight substances like bubble wrap, it can also help make packages smaller. Cardboard boxes are also lightweight and eco friendly. The choice of eco-friendly material and packaging material can turn around your costs totally differently. This sort of sustainable packaging also costs less and helps you save your environment!
- A lot of customers seek a sustainable packaging and product system, sticking with this process can provide you with loyal customers for life. And of course, shipping them from the right place can help you out even more.
- Shipping labels can also consume some extra costs that you might not prefer, so it is better to buy labels from a manufacturer instead of retail.
Reducing Return
There are a lot of reasons why the products can be returned and it can increase your ecommerce operating costs.
- Reducing product returns can resolve a lot of issues for your business and it can drastically decrease your costs!
- You need to let your customers know what exactly they’re buying so you don’t risk getting more returns as it will increase your shipping costs. Moreover, you will lose your customers.
- Most returns happen because your customers get the wrong size or the wrong product, so you will also have to deal with ecommerce packaging costs. It is your job to make sure that the customers are aware of the right sizes and products.
- If you increase the return period to 30 or more days, it gives time to the customer to “own” the product and they may end up not returning it at the end.
- If the same type of product is being returned repeatedly, it is good to be cautious and recheck or replace your products.
Marketing Budget
The thing about having an online business is that you’re always there! So you can invest and profit from other avenues online. You should have a certain plan for your returns from these avenues. There is a formula to evaluate that:
Net profit from an investment divided/total invested *100
You can evaluate what sources have more profit and revenue than the others. In terms of online advertisement, you can surely invest in PPC (pay-per-click), google ads or even paid advertisements as they are the cheapest and most effective options.
There are more strategies you can look at:
- Digital marketing, making your own blog linking your product pages.
- You can advertise your products by using search engine optimization (SEO). Using the right keywords can increase your visibility.
- Sponsors and influencers are a good way to reach more customers and it is a good way to associate yourself with people with a bigger platform.
It will be hard to find free resources but you can definitely find cheap ways to cut down costs and make more profit!
Managing Inventory
With growing competition between e-commerce companies and a surge in demand from consumers, keeping track of inventory has been pushed aside in recent years. Companies tend to look past this aspect – when it is one that requires utmost prioritization!
- Storing products comes at a great cost, and you must monitor if your products are being bought by consumers. Oftentimes, e-commerce companies may find themselves hoarding a large amount of dead stock – products which have declined in popularity and are becoming increasingly harder to sell.
Instead of continuing to pay the charges required to store these products, you can look for means to get rid of them. This will allow for the reduction of inventory costs. In the process of doing this, you can formulate promotional campaigns such as buy-one-get-one-free offers or sales which not only facilitate the elimination of deadstock but also attract new customers.
- Inventory Management can also be immensely beneficial in the long term. By monitoring sales and understanding which products appeal to your target audience and which ones are unlikely to gain much traction, your platforms can make profitable decisions. It allows you to gain clarity and confidence as to which products you can manufacture with the knowledge that you will definitely be able to sell them. Simultaneously, observing the movement of inventory encourages ecommerce companies to take notice of developing trends in addition to declining ones.
Optimizing Shipping Methods
- Several surveys and studies point to one conclusion: consumers love the prospect of free shipping. (that 50 bucks always hurts) In fact, consumers are more likely to purchase a product if they are granted delivery free of cost. However, this is not the most profitable when you are required to pay suppliers and shipping carriers. Profit margins of companies would be down if they offered free shipping to consumers while continuing to pay large amounts to these logistics services and entities.
- One way to minimize this is through negotiating with your suppliers and carriers. These firms would like to remain informed about and in the loop with your payment times and the size of your shipment. If you are cognizant of this and meet their demands in this aspect, they are more likely to hear you out on negotiations for prices.
- In cases where you have already built a tight relationship with these firms, there is a greater chance of receiving payment or prepayment discounts.
- Now if your supplier/carrier is firm about fixed prices, you can opt for purchasing or distributing your products in bulk. This would reduce the cost of paying for individual shipments of products.
To maximize customer satisfaction, once the aforementioned venues have been explored, you can look towards offering free shipping on festivals (like Diwali or Christmas!) or limited occasions such as when purchases above a certain price are made or if consumers are a part of a membership program.
Make use of Automation
Time is a valuable asset in all organizations and we are pretty sure it is valuable to you too. Time is money after all!
- With advancements in technologies and the availability of software through which business and marketing operations can be executed, we can help you make important decisions on business too!
- Hiring employees to assist with posting across social media platforms, updating consumers’ information, or recording sales is no longer necessary, and you can save a great deal of money by choosing to invest in online tools instead.
- Once you make use of these technological resources, you can take advantage of the extra time you have to focus on encouraging your employees to take on crucial tasks and responsibilities.
- It allows you to prioritize which operations are in need of special attention, and which ones need to be executed flawlessly. The shift towards online leads to less time being spent on menial tasks and hence employees can spend more time on crucial decision making. It also helps to increase your productivity and subsequently your profit margins in the long run.
Conclusion
To conclude, you have a lot of tricks up your sleeve (like hiring us) and there are a lot of opportunities that you can’t miss out on!
Effective methods include building ties and negotiating with suppliers, managing packaging-related costs, ensuring that minimal to no returns are initiated by purchasers, planning a marketing budget beforehand, keeping track of inventory, maximizing shipping methods, and the use of automation among many more.
You must keep your head held high as you can face the threat of being dominated by large and fast-growing companies. By following the techniques mentioned in this article and reducing costs, customer satisfaction will be retained-and possibly accelerated, while your brand can reach new heights (as it should) and establish itself as a viable, flourishing business in the global market.
These investments are worth it if you have the correct resources. The iThink Logistics team is here to make sure your work is in the right hands. It is never too late to take one step ahead and figure out the right logistics – ithink is here to make your investments worth it.
