How to Save Shipping Cost in Online Business?

International shipping is an important part in global e-Commerce dealings, shipping cost can also be a large budget in your company when the orders’ increasing. That is to say if you cannot plan shipping cost properly, you will cause overpaying, and potentially a drop in sales in the long run if the company can’t provide consistent and cost-effective product delivery for customers.

Raising your prices to compensate for higher shipping costs must not be a wise choice if you want to keep your customer as a long-term and loyal customer. Managing your shipping costs with extra planning and consideration can reduce the unavoidable costs for international shipping.

Ways on saving shipping costs:

•      Before sending your parcels to your overseas customers, it is important to choose a reliable delivery company as your kind shipping partners. There are many international parcel delivery services provider in China and most of them offer quotes online allowing savvy shippers to comparison shop for the best deal. As one of the parcel delivery & courier service leaders in terms of price and service based in China, SendFromChina.com are one of the best. 
•   Use minimal packaging materials. As we know, packaging materials is a major factor in shipping weight, with will affect the shipping cost directly, so it is wise to use the smallest amount of packing materials possible which also ensure products reach their destination safely.
• Weigh your products precisely with a certified postal scale. Postal scales, available from business supply stores, measure your goods as accurately as possible. Exact weights allow more precise shipping costs, which will in effect reduce overpaying.
• Making sure your packaging is as compact as possible. This requires to adjust your carton sizes to avoid dimensional weight and oversize surcharges you can avoid higher costs due to weight and height restrictions, as well as oversize penalties. 
• The last thing I would say to reduce shipping costs is to always use international air mail service for small parcel which weight less than 2kg. When a percentage of the shipment is required for fast delivery, there is no need to ship an entire order using international express service. International air mail & postal service is much more cheaper than international express, although it’s delivery time may be a bit longer. Use express air delivery only when goods are needed swiftly and use a lower cost, reliable courier service for all other orders. 
• Finally, if possible you would re-price your highest margin goods to automatically include delivery prices, and then promote them as items with free shipping. Postal rate by International air mail service can be included for free shipping items, and customers will be incentivized to buy from you when they see that you offer “free delivery”. If they want faster delivery, they can subscribe express service with their own charge.

What are your biggest concerns regarding international shipping? Do you have any good tips for reducing shipping costs for global e-Commerce bussiness?