22 Tips for Offering Profitable Free Shipping! (Infographic)

Free shipping is an effective but sometimes costly sales tool. Is it possible for companies to achieve profitable free shipping?

Case studies show that free shipping increases sales, order volume, and conversion rate. Since 60% of shoppers prioritize free shipping and 81% research multiple websites before purchasing, this perk can be the determining factor between someone buying from you or your competitor.

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How Smart CEOs Leverage Supply Chain!

Being a CEO is tough enough, let alone how difficult it is if you don’t have all of the skills and knowledge needed.. Many CEOs have a background in Finance or Sales and Marketing or Engineering, or are just entrepreneurs. But few have in-depth experience in Supply Chain, let alone understand how to leverage Supply Chain.

The truth is that the overwhelming, but often misunderstood and underrated, impact of Supply Chain’s importance to the success of an organization is missed and unknown to many CEOS.

Only truly smart CEOs get it. They get the importance of Supply Chain and understand that they will succeed or fail depending on how they do, or do not, leverage Supply Chain.

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Do you have a Freight Management Strategy or are you Spinning your Wheels?

In going door to door trying to sell a Freight Management service, as well as in my experience working in companies, I have had the opportunity to see a variety of ways in which companies, large and small, were managing their Freight and Logistics spend.

Most everyone felt they were doing a good job already.  But I’ve seen instances where Freight is one of the top 5 largest expenses within a company.  Yet it is managed by one or two people, with no support, and no visibility from upper management.

Depending on the industry  your transportation spend can make up anywhere from 1-10% of your company’s total revenue.  Aside from the    cost impact the service implications of a poor Freight management system are enormous.

So do you have a strategy for managing Freight and Logistics or are you spinning your wheels?

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7 of the Best Truck Stops for Fast and Tasty Food!

If you work as a trucker in the United States, you will find some fantastic truck stops where you can get fast and tasty food.

Here are just seven of the best truck stops. 

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Touchless Fulfillment and Shipping!

The transportation & logistics industry found new ways to have touchless fulfillment and shipping during this pandemic. We reside in truly strange times. If some say in the past that 5+ billion people would be during a complete lockdown in fear of a deadly virus, someone would have probably laughed at the overall idea.

But here we are, 8 months after the discovery of the COVID-19 virus in Wuhan, a global pandemic. With global cases having crossed 20 million, proactive and reliable methods are required for businesses to survive during this post-lockdown era.

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Who is Responsible for the Wellbeing of Crew on a Ship?

Working hard on a ship should be under safe conditions that help productivity. If your well-being suffers, not only does this detract from your work, but the conditions can ruin your health.

It is crucial that your well-being is taken care of. When you are injured because of irresponsible leadership, you can suffer from damages that negatively impact your livelihood. 

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Our 2021 Top 10 List!

In the middle of our 5th year here at Supply Chain Game Changer we are proud to publish our 2021 Top 10 List. Here we are showcasing our 10 most popular articles for the first half of the year.

Since we’ve started we have amassed an extensive library of over 750 articles. There is something for everyone no matter what your interests, challenges and needs may be from one day to the next. And that fulfills our mission of sharing experiences and expertise for the benefit of all.

Still there is always more to right about to help our readers.

So let’s take some time to reflect, and look back on our 2021 top 10 list … so far!

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The Toilet Paper Supply Chain!

Our recent trips to Costco and Walmart, in mid March 2020, had one thing in particular in common. Both stores were sold out of toilet paper, with no knowledge as to when more was coming in to the store.

A few weeks ago, in mid February 2020, when the panic was starting to set in with respect to the Coronavirus we saw some people buying a lot of toilet paper. At the time we bought more packages than we should have, just in case, not realizing there was going to be a full blown run on toilet paper.

This seems to be the story everywhere, even on Amazon. Every store is sold out of toilet paper. Why is it sold out? It’s such a common product that’s merely made out of paper. Does it all come from China, where their factories are shut down? Is that the problem?

In light of the current situation we thought it was time to learn more about the Toilet Paper Supply Chain.

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Alliances, Carriers and Logistics!

It’s certainly been an interesting past few months in the container shipping industry; from the upcoming IMO 2020 Low Sulphur Fuel requirements, Brexit (Yikes!), US-China tariff negotiations; it’s refreshing to get back to basics and talk about the container industry.

However, today the container business seems to be more logistical than purely shipping.

What’s new in alliances?

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5 Tips on How to Find and Choose a Freight Forwarder!

Freight forwarders provide a great service to businesses, as they are the middle-men that transfer products internationally. It can be difficult to find and choose a freight forwarder and pick the right one for you because there are many freight forwarders to choose from, which makes it a highly competitive industry.

As long as a freight forwarder is able to take care of your business needs, then they are a good fit. You will have to perform research on the freight forwarders you are considering and also communicate with them to learn more about their business practices. 

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A Brief History of Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) Codes!

Importers all over the world are required to use a harmonized tariff schedule code on their products, but what is an HTS code?

Well, it’s a set of numbers, usually between six and 10, that identifies a product so that a country’s government can quickly know what is in a shipment that’s coming to their shores, how much to tax the products in that shipment, and whether or not other agencies need to be involved (for regulated items such as some foods, drugs, alcohol, firearms, and more.

Here’s more on what a Harmonized Tariff Schedule, or HTS, code is and its history.

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9 Key Considerations in an Effective Last Mile Delivery Strategy

Understanding last mile logistics is only half the battle. Shippers need to reevaluate their existing last mile logistics processes and devise an effective last mile delivery logistics strategy that aligns consumer and business expectation.

This is the only way shippers can safeguard their position in the market and continue to provide products to their consumers. In fact, an effective last mile logistics strategy must consider these nine key points.

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A Look into a Truck Driver’s Life!

The next time you find everything you need on the shelves of your local grocery store, say a silent prayer for the truckers. You may not realize it, but these guys are responsible for putting food on your table. Domestic shipping will come to a halt if the trucking industry suddenly has a downfall. And a truck driver’s life involves spending the majority of their time on the roads, away from their loved ones, and lack the recognition other essential services get.

However, the supply chain is heavily dependent on them. The trucking industry is a big part of the US economy: around 902,000 individuals find their livelihood by being on the roads.

If you have ever wondered what an average day in a truck driver’s life was like, we have the answers below:

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5 Ways 3PL Services Help E-Commerce Businesses Avoid Late Deliveries!

There’s nothing that haunts e-commerce businesses more than the idea of dealing with late deliveries. However, it’s a part of reality for many online stores. 

For various reasons, they might fail to deliver their products on time. This happens mostly for logistics reasons, which is why working with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider is so important. 

3PL services are a valuable resource for local e-commerce businesses. They offer you a variety of benefits to help streamline operations and improve customer satisfaction. One of the most significant ways they do so is by helping your e-commerce business avoid late deliveries. 

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Commodity (or Category) Management – What is your Buying Strategy?

In any company or industry that sells products the cost of the raw materials and components is often the single largest expense.  Despite the magnitude of this cost however there is a wide range of focus put on managing this expenditure from proactive and strategic to reactive and tactical. This is all managed by either Commodity Management or Category Management.

In some cases there is a great level of  planning applied before a single purchase order is placed.  In other cases buying decisions are made subjectively and with very little focus.  Further the experience in those buying these goods can vary significantly as well.

Supply Chain is about much more than just negotiating lower materials costs.  A well constructed Procurement Strategy will raise the value of the Supply Chain to your company.

How do you manage your materials spend?  Are you executing a Buying Strategy or are you just blindly placing purchase orders ?

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