With the new eCommerce economic boom in 2021, you need to make sure you are competing with your competition. Our habits have now been influenced by the pandemic and even more and more people are shopping online. Everyone is getting packaging sent to their home on nearly a daily basis. With where I work now I have seen so many eCommerce companies succeed and also fail with the unfortunate circumstances of bad choices. This is something that I really don’t like to see. So today I want to go over some things that I saw failing companies do and areas they ignored which actually ended up costing them enough money to begin a downward spiral. The thing is that where you shop for bags and boxes can have a massive impact on your bottom line. If you are new to the industry than you will find that packaging is expensive and will be a huge expense.
It seems like an easy concept, but it doesn’t hit home to many people that in eCommerce every item they sell will be shipped. They all laugh and think I am talking really basic, but I then like to go into the fact that shipping supplies make and break companies. When competition is tight and maybe you are facing thousands of people in the same industry then you need to be able to stay ahead of be competitive. So how do you do this? What if those thousands of companies are all purchasing the same items from the places you are? Well, then you have to cut corners and find ways to stay ahead to either sell at a lower price or offer a better shipping rate or discount. If you don’t keep up or stay ahead of the game, then you will eventually be put out of business.
Understanding where to get the best price and service on shipping supplies will make your company thrive. Most people fail right here and at this point. They simply do not search hard enough for the best company. Or they don’t negotiate enough for the best deal and they end up losing lots of margins on each and every single item they sell. It certainly is hard to stay competitive when every item you sell loses you some money. There are a few places that inevitably that people will go.
Local stores are an obvious first choice for many. It is really nice to put that you only shop locally and all your products are shipped with local goods. People like this and it can be a selling point. The fact is that it is usually only successful if your local store is an industry leader and able to give you the same discounts and rates as a large nationwide company. This is why most little companies that shop locally end up losing because their rates are twice as high and their options are usually lower.
There is always Amazon and it still may not be the best option. This is where most people shop and if you are doing this for an office and picking up regular supplies more power to you. But the costs are still higher than you can get elsewhere and people simply give up and concede that convenience is worth more to them. Find a major manufacturer online instead and negotiate until you crush amazon prices. Do your own research and take a day or two and find some profitable places that are willing to work with you on prices.