Making Sense of the Coming Parcel Rate Hikes
The 2008 parcel rate increases will, collectively, be the largest in recent memory. Matching United Parcel Service
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Ship-Shape
Touch of Class didn’t have the worst return rate, but 11% was bad enough. So the home decor cataloger started a quality assurance program. And it has
15 Tips to Combat Parcel Rate Increases
All the parcel carriers will complete their 2008 pricing announcements in the next few weeks. Given the size of the increases announced so far, multichannel companies need to look at all options open to them and develop short and long-term strategies to reduce the impact.
Rising Transportation Costs –and What To Do About Them
For most multichannel merchants, transportation of goods is the highest operational expense. Inbound freight costs for domestically sourced product typically range from 2%-4% of gross sales, while for imported product, inbound freight costs 6% to 12% of gross sales.
The Fulfillment Doctor on… The Price of Free Holiday Shipping
What are the underlying reasons behind offering free shipping and processing to customers? Is this common practice in other companies in the multichannel industry? Can anything positive come from giving free shipping to our customers?
Port Tracker: Container Traffic Drops Below Last Year
Traffic at the major retail container ports dropped below last year
Are Two Carriers Better Than One?
When it comes to striking a balance between controlling costs and maintaining service levels, is it better to use multiple carriers or a single carrier? That question is becoming increasingly relevant, thanks to dramatic rate hikes and frequent changes in the parcel industry. Both approaches have merit, but to determine what
The Fulfillment Doctor on….Improving Outbound Freight Contracts
Question: My outbound freight to ship packages now exceeds my direct labor costs. I can
New dogs learn old tricks
One of the most telling examples of how far e-commerce has evolved in the past decade happened this summer at the eTail 2007 conference in Washington.
Delivering on a promise
Eric Lituchy runs a lean operation. His online gift firm, Delightful Deliveries, drop ships all of its orders. And this allows it to add product lines like gourmet-baked goods without making costly inventory commitments.