This is the time of year that shippers are often bracing for the blow of annual rate increases. Usually in the late third or early fourth quarter, parcel carriers will announce their annual rate and surcharge increases. With the growth in e-commerce, parcel is becoming a larger expenditure for companies. According to GMT’s 2018 Benchmark Report, 87% of shippers expect 2018 parcel rates to increase at a similar or higher pace as total transport costs year-over-year.
The quick fix for fast order fulfillment is using an express service, but in a world where shippers are constantly battling rising costs, that is not a sustainable option. Placing distribution centers (DCs) in the correct location can provide a long-term, sustainable option to reduce fulfillment time. Are your current DCs placed in the most optimal locations? Here are four steps in evaluating the location of distribution centers.
In the frothy battle for online customer loyalty, shipping choices and amounts charged for those choices is a highly influential front. Retailers have been grappling with this changing landscape for years as online disruption continues. Green Mountain Technology has combined the specific experience of its retail clients along with a multitude of other companies across industries in our annual Benchmark Report to understand strategies for differentiation in this dynamic space.
We live in a parcel world where accessorial increases can be announced at any time of the year and have huge impacts on budgets. Accessorial charges account for anywhere from five to 30% of our clients’ total parcel spend, and this proportion is rising. On top of trying to accurately forecast resource needs due to volume growth and system changes within an organization, accessorial increases add a huge layer of complexity and unpredictability that can lead to multiplied costs overnight.
As logistic departments focus more time and energy on meeting fast order fulfillment, it can become inherently difficult to save money without changing the mix of services used to less premium ones. More often than not, managers are squeezing their network like a tube of toothpaste: getting every last drop out. Take advantage of the low hanging fruit in your network with four simple, yet powerful key performance indicators that focus on maintaining a healthy network by reducing unnecessary and often avoidable fees.
Validation looks at “Did I get what I paid for?” whereas verification looks at “Did I request the right thing?” A common factor seen in the attempt to answer these questions is the utilization of a parcel audit. A traditional parcel audit can help to shed light on two issues regularly seen with high-volume shipping.
As a result of the ongoing rise in e-commerce and the growth of Amazon Prime (which has an estimated 80 million US members), today’s online shoppers have very different expectations when it comes to fast and free shipping than they did just a few years ago. In order to compete, many retailers are considering adopting a similar strategy to fulfill orders much more quickly to meet those consumer expectations. However, it is challenging for transportation executives to manage the competing objectives of keeping costs down while pursuing a significantly faster fulfillment network.
