The Demand for Free Shipping

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warehouse workers preparing shipping

The demand for free shipping. Finding freight savings through 3PL.

One thing consumers have clearly communicated is that they do not like paying for shipping.  RetailMeNot surveyed consumers and found that 82 percent prefer free shipping over a fast shipping option with a fee.  Whether you are managing your own fulfillment or using a 3PL, freight will be a significant cost for you – likely the MOST significant.  Keeping up with the demand for free shipping can further increase your costs, and deserves your attention.  You may try to negotiate with your carrier for better rates, but you may not see sufficient savings.

So, what can you do to provide your customers what they want while still managing your costs?  Take advantage of a 3PL’s negotiated rates.  NRI takes freight opportunities even a step further through the addition of Rate Shopping logic.

NRI has a freight team that acts as a liaison between carriers and our clients to ensure our clients receive the best freight value-offering.  Due to our multiple clients’ business across both the US and Canada, we have a significant overall shipping volume.  This combined volume allows NRI to negotiate better rates than most individual brands, and thus we can offer enterprise level freight solutions to even developing brands.  Additionally, our large volumes allow us to support multiple carriers.  Where a brand may have enough volume alone to demand the services of just one carrier, NRI’s combined volume commands the support of multiple carriers.  We negotiate with many national and regional carriers in the US and Canada, bringing significant freight savings to our clients.

For an additional layer of savings opportunities, we utilize our Transportation Management System (TMS), Aspire, to automatically rate shop.  Rate shopping ensures that we provide the best service and rate on a per shipment basis.  No single carrier offers the best rate nation-wide to all points, so using multiple carriers and our TMS we can ensure each parcel is shipped the most cost-effective way possible.  Our systems provide flexibility to handle specific order-driven shipping requests, as well as the ability to set specific, permanent customer rules that will hold for every order to a specific address.  With rate shopping, you have more control over what, if anything, you charge your customers.

Want to discuss what we can save you on shipping with rate shopping?  Or perhaps how to best leverage our “Four Corners” strategy to ensure your product is positioned best in North America to satisfy your customers?  Let’s chat.

3PL and Your Success.

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three logistics workers in a warehouse

3PL and your success. It takes a team.

You’ve trusted your 3PL with sending out orders in a timely manner so that your customers are happy and keep ordering from you. But issues sometimes arise. And when they do, you must be able to trust your 3PL with handling it quickly and effectively. At NRI, we partner with our clients to give them a full-scope solution for achieving their business goals. Each of our clients are partnered with dedicated order fulfillment teams, client service coordinators, and account managers – among others.

Order Fulfillment Teams

Our Order Fulfillment Teams are on the front lines – leading the charge on fulfilling orders. We operate a variety of shifts across all facilities to ensure total coverage for our clients’ business profiles, while also ensuring flexibility for our team members so that their health and welfare needs are met. NRI does not rely on temporary labor but rather operates with +95% full-time company employees across all facilities. These team members are extremely familiar with our clients’ product and businesses characteristics. Our proprietary WMS, Aspire, ensures the utmost in technology for our teams to ensure the most efficient and accurate processing of our clients’ orders.

Client Services Teams

NRI provides each client with an on-site, dedicated Client Services Coordinator (CSC). The CSCs are the frontline contacts for our clients, and liaison to our Operations Team. The CSCs manage our clients’ day-to-day requirements, as well as priority escalations. They work directly in-facility and are experts in helping our clients manage their needs, and their customers’ needs. Our CS teams have decades of combined experience in ecommerce and wholesale channels – coordinating internal resources to deliver excellence across them.

Operations and Accounts Teams

The Client Services Team is supported by our Operations and Accounts teams. These teams work in conjunction with our clients on forecast plans to ensure operational success at a high level. Our Accounts team supports our clients with strategic analyses, new service designs, and continued investment in developing our partner relationships.

We believe in partnership. Our goal is to be a key element in our clients’ success.

“Our success is directly connected to the positive, hard-working, and reliable team members at NRI” – Julia Fenwick, United by Blue

We want to work WITH you. We’d love to chat.

What You Can Save by Partnering with a 3PL

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Recently we wrote about the reasons you may need a 3PL. You’re busy running a business and perhaps operations are the last thing on your mind. But most likely, financials are always at the top of your mind. We thought that writing about the financial benefits of partnering with a 3PL deserved its own spot at the table. Here are some ways partnering with a 3PL can help you save money.

Time

Would you benefit from utilizing your employees’ skills not related to picking, packing, and shipping product? Growing your business is likely the of great importance to you, and your employees potentially have other skills that can help you achieve that growth. Partnering with a 3PL can take some of the burden off you and your employees so you can focus those strengths and energy into brand building.

Or, do you have so many orders waiting to be picked, packed, and shipped that you need to hire more employees? Finding the right talent for your company is time consuming. 3PLs already have the talent that are more than capable of picking, packing, and shipping your products.

Shipping Costs

3PLs have built great relationships with most major carriers, such as UPS, FedEx, DHL, and the national postal networks. Due to our large shipment volumes and consistent business, we can leverage preferred rates with these carriers; rates most individual companies can’t match. At NRI, we have partnered with all major US and Canadian carriers and are working to partner with more regional carriers to not only diversify our offering, but also save our customers more money on shipping costs and reduced shipping times.

Technology

You may be considering an investment into a Warehouse Management System (WMS) to manage your inventory and track shipments and returns. Most 3PLs already have a robust WMS that will manage your inventory, track shipments, and so much more.

Space

Are your products crowding your office? Taking up space at home? Products need to be stored and prepared for shipping somewhere. Leasing a warehouse can get costly when you factor in all the overhead to simply keep the lights on, let alone to outfit it sufficiently and to staff it. 3PLs factor everything in when quoting you, so you only see one price. An added bonus: more space for other things!

There are many reasons to partner with a 3PL, and saving time, space, and most importantly, money, are all great examples. As a solutions-focused 3PL, NRI wants to work with you to reduce your costs, improve your customer experience, and scale your business.

Want to learn more? Contact us to discuss your 3PL needs.