Ecommerce is already known for having a slashed set of overhead costs. When you operate your store online, you don’t need to worry about paying rent on a brick and mortar establishment, nor do you need to cut into profits for office supplies, extra retail staff, security, and the myriad other small expenses that come with running a traditional retail business. So you might wonder: why would an ecommerce business need to cut any more costs?
But any business should look to be more efficient, regardless of how spartan the operations already are. Raising cash flow from early payments, leveraging vendor support for advertising, making use of free social media and shopping around to get the lowest price on international shipping are all ways an ecommerce business can cut costs without sacrificing quality. Let’s take a look.
1. Take Advantage of Early Payments
One way you can make a little extra money is by offering early payment discounts. Pre-payments are offered for customers that pay for their products sooner, which makes it great for saving on a portion of cash that would usually have to go with the rest of the price. When customers make use of early payment discounts, they should know that the value of their discount would be greater than the money they could earn if they waited for their interest for up to 3 months. (Don’t worry: it sounds more complicated than it is).
2. Avoid Paying Expensive Freight
Whatever early payment discounts you offer, you can also apply a savings in shipping, provided that your online store has partnered with a courier broker. With a courier broker, you can shop around between couriers and choose the lowest price for a shipment – which is lower than you would get elsewhere, since the courier broker negotiates deeply discounted rates. Shipping has long been a headache for ecommerce vendors, but with a courier broker you can easily cut these costs. It’s also worth noting – depending on the volume you ship – the differences between less-than-truckload and truckload freight work.
3. Rely on Advertising Support from Vendors
Traditional retailers are not the only businesses that usually receive co-op dollars – ecommerce businesses are able to obtain them as well. Retailers would normally have to use advertisements online or in person in order to use co-op dollars, the former being helpful for online work and if done early in the year.
- Take Advantage of Social Media Speaking of social media, it’s a great platform for any form of marketing, even if it may seem too early to do so. It’s great for e-commerce businesses because it yields cheaper unique impressions than normal online advertising. Businesses should use at least a small percentage of their monthly PPC budget for their advertising payments and then split it in half, which is how using less money for social media campaigns can work.
These four ideas are wonderful for not only growing your ecommerce business, but also making sure it runs as efficiently as possible at its current size and output. With early payment discounts, courier brokers, co-op support and free social media campaigns, you can slash costs and make more money.
