For many retail businesses, one of the largest and most inevitable of all on-going expenses is that of shipping. You can’t escape the fact that you have to get your goods to your customers somehow, but the more you spend on shipping, the lower your profits. Of course, offering an outstanding shipping service is all part and parcel of being an effective retailer. But at the same time, this doesn’t necessarily mean that there aren’t various ways and means by which shipping costs can be reduced.

So with this in mind, what follows is a brief overview of just a few tips from the experts with regard to reducing shipping expenses when and where possible:

1. First of all, and if there is any way of getting away with it, don’t use next- day delivery services or same-day courier delivery. The reason being that while they may be the most convenient and desirable as far as your customers are concerned, they can also be spectacularly expensive when compared to standard shipping. Not only this, but standard first class or priority post more often than not arrives within 24 to 48 hours anyway, so there’s really not a great deal of difference on that front.

2. Another helpful tip is that of cutting costs on the kinds of materials required to post your goods. It can be useful to get into the habit of re- using the boxes your own deliveries arrive in to then post goods out to customers. Even if the boxes and packaging materials themselves are not particularly pristine, chances are your customers will respond positively to the fact that you are recycling. And while postage and packaging materials are not particularly expensive, they represent a small expense that quickly adds up.

3. While it’s natural to simply stick with one of the more obvious delivery services, it is nonetheless worth occasionally comparing the market. Contrary to popular belief, there are in fact hundreds of businesses in operation that specialise in making deliveries of all kinds. It may not necessarily be more cost-effective to use them just once or twice, but if there is the opportunity to strike a long-term or on-going deal, it is certainly something that should be looked into.

4. In addition, when it comes to posting multiple items to the same address, it is important to be mindful of the options available to you. Contrary to popular belief, there are many instances when and where it can actually work out cheaper to post multiple packages, as opposed to one single package of a comparatively heavy weight. The trick being to ensure that you are clued up on postage costs in accordance with package size and weight, in order to make the right decision.

5. Last but not least, if you focus on a specific locality as opposed to the entire country, it may be in your best interests to consider hiring a dedicated delivery driver. Over time, paying someone to take care of all of your deliveries personally could not only save you money, but also ensure that your customers get a genuinely superior delivery service with every purchase.