Information is powerful – especially shipping data.  A strategically planned logistics and fulfillment approach can increase efficiency and increase company revenue. With so many moving parts across the supply chain, data is precious when pointing out processes that could be more cost-efficient. By using shipping and fulfillment data wisely, businesses can reduce their costs and increase revenue – here’s how you can do the same.

Metrics that Matter

It’s essential to use shipping and fulfillment data to understand what is being tracked and how it applies to your operations. Luckily, modern shipping data is easier than ever to obtain and track – sometimes even to an overwhelming level. While businesses might not track every data point, picking the key metrics that matter to your business will help them get ahead. 

Depending on a business’s goals, there are different metrics they should focus on. However, no matter your goals, here are a few key metrics that can add insight to your data and why they matter.

  • Number of shipments: The number of shipments a company sends out shows the monthly or seasonal fluctuations in orders and helps develop forecasting plans.
  • Picking accuracy: Picking accuracy compares the number of accurately picked orders to the total number of orders picked.
  • On-time delivery: Higher on-time delivery rates will increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. 
  • Shipping rates: Shipping rates reveal if a company’s logistics are cost-efficient.  
  • Backorder rate: Backorder rates can give insight into the health of a business’s supply chain and overall customer satisfaction.
  • Stock rotation: Stock rotation shows which products sell quickly and which are slower to move off the shelves. 
  • Warehousing costs: Warehousing costs reveal how efficiently a business uses its space.

Reduced costs, increased revenue

You can often find channels to reduce costs and increase revenue by exploring your metrics further. For example, are your forecasting plans accurate? Are packages arriving on time to their destinations? How satisfied are your customers? Are you taking advantage of your entire warehouse space? Of course, as for many metrics, there is always room for improvement, but you’ll want to start by addressing the most prominent outliers. 

While many of these issues involve reducing costs, increased customer satisfaction can also increase revenue. Today, customers are more likely to be loyal based on a brand experience rather than price and product. And the data backs this up. In a Walker survey, trends showed customer experience overtaking price and product as the key brand differentiator. Keeping up with consumer demands will keep shoppers coming back to you rather than the competition, so it’s time to get ahead.

The root cause of returns

Returns can be a drag on revenue. For example, the National Retail Foundation reported that in 2020 returns accounted for over $400 billion in lost sales for U.S. retailers. But returns don’t have to be a total loss – they can also be a source of knowledge. By surveying why customers return products and learning from that data, businesses can take steps to lower their number of returns and minimize their losses.

If a customer says their product was damaged in transit, maybe its packaging should be more secure. If a product didn’t meet buyer expectations, it could be time to revisit the product description. While some returns are inevitable, there are ways to address them and prevent them from happening in the future. 

Shipping and saving

By making the most of your shipping and fulfillment data, you can help your business save money and increase profits – luckily, Elevate and EasyPost have partnered together to provide real-time analytics. This technology enables users to analyze their EasyPost shipment data at scale through Elevate’s out-of-the-box data solution. Learn more about your supply chain and analyze your shipping data at any time by trying out this innovative solution.