Are you spending too much on shipments? Chances are, it feels that way – and there are almost always ways to optimize your logistics and supply chain costs. Sometimes these require an overhaul of your logistical processes, but as a company grows, this can become a necessity to keep seeing better optimization of your shipments.
One highly effective option, especially for companies that do large volumes of shipments, is retail pool distribution. Somewhat like carpooling, the idea is to combine as many shipments together as possible to reduce overall costs.
For example, a small company may have a single warehouse, and do all their shipments straight from that to the store or customer. This means shipping numerous small packages, which is highly inefficient. As they grow, a smarter strategy emerges establishing a few regional shipment centers, along with their central location. Then goods intended for a single region can be bundled together for most of the transport, and only unbundled and shipped individually for local delivery.
This brings several big benefits:
Reduced Costs
Any time shipments can be bundled together, using strategies like retail pool distribution or less-than-load techniques, you’re going to save money over individual shipments. The more that can be bundled together, for the longest possible trips, the more savings are likely to occur. This, alone, can radically reduce costs compared to only doing direct shipments.
Reduced Overhead
Pool distribution also reduces your overhead by reducing the number of trucks needed, or shipments required. This extends, also, to reducing the workload on your warehouses and dock workers. Combined, this adds up to even more cost savings on labor and machinery maintenance.
Improved Speed And Accuracy In Delivery
Another big benefit to retail pool distribution techniques is that they typically improve overall shipment times and reliability. Your goods will be taking a more direct path to their intended region, with fewer chances for something to go wrong on individual shipments. That results in a significantly better experience for your sales partners and customers, which boosts loyalty in a time when many buyers tend to switch suppliers frequently.
Getting started in retail pool distribution can be difficult for smaller companies looking to grow since local distribution centers are expensive to set up. Overall, these costs will be justified over time with a strong ROI, but there’s another option: partnering with an experienced logistics company.
US Logistics has access to warehouses and distribution centers all over the country, allowing us to handle your retail pool distribution needs without the need to invest in property yourself. For many growing companies, this is the perfect way to see the benefits of pooling strategies, without the high up-front costs of establishing your own distribution centers.
Contact US Logistics to discuss your shipping challenges, and how we can help!
