Within businesses today, one activity remains a holdout in many organizations’ efforts to apply the strategic sourcing techniques taken for granted in virtually every other business function: parcel shipping. As a result, many companies – among them manufacturers that rely on the fast delivery of urgently needed components and omnichannel retailers that depend on e-commerce sales – pay far more for parcel shipping than they should.
In almost all cases, this failure to maximize savings in parcel shipping operations is a direct reflection of a flawed approach to one critically important skill: do-it-yourself (DIY) negotiation of parcel carrier contracts and agreements. Fortunately, today’s shippers are ideally positioned to use a variety of techniques to secure more favorable shipping rates, terms and conditions in their carrier contracts. In fact, most companies have the opportunity to lower their shipping costs by 22% or more, an opportunity that directly translates into significant top-line and bottom-line gains. Download this whitepaper for information on carrier contracts, the levers within them that can be used to lower costs, and how to effectively negotiate savings without consultants.