Wholesalers and retailers who are currently cutting costs are doing this, among other things, by reducing transport costs. 38 percent indicate that this is where their hand is cut. This is evident from research by shipping platform Wuunder, in response to the macroeconomic developments of the past year. The research conducted among more than 500 decision-makers in the wholesale and retail sector shows, among other things, that eighty percent of companies are currently taking actions to save costs.

The top five actions organizations are taking to cut costs are as follows:

1 – Negotiate more with suppliers (48%)
2 – Reduce transport costs (38%)
3- Automate processes (34%)
4 – Negotiate more with manufacturers (31%)
5 – Using cheaper packaging (31%)

Wholesalers and retailers opt less often for the greener option of producing locally (10%).

Stock management, personnel and purchasing are next in line
If organizations are forced to take the next step in cost reduction and have to pay even more attention to expenditure, the first thing that will be done is:

Inventory management (25%)
Personnel costs (24%)
Transport costs (16%)
Purchasing process (16%)
Packaging costs (14%)
Logistics processes (13%)

Cutting in the logistics process
When organizations need to cut costs specifically in the logistics process, most would do so by increasing the shipping costs for customers (20%). Another frequently mentioned option is implementing better inventory management (19%). This will be relevant for many organizations, because the research also shows that 24 percent of traders currently have a surplus of stock. Finally, they also want to tackle their carriers and packaging. For example, seventeen percent say they will negotiate more sharply with carriers and another seventeen percent want to use cheaper packaging. 

Jeroen Gehlen, co-founder of Wuunder: “Cutting transport costs is more difficult today than before. This is because transport costs now consist of many more elements. Many retailers work with different carriers and their rates also consist of all kinds of components, such as length, width and height, volume and weight of packages or pallets, the destination, route and speed of delivery. The options are endless, but that also means that choosing the 'cheapest' option can no longer be easily done manually. Wholesalers and retailers who want to take this path would therefore do well to purchase software that provides insight into the possibilities and at what rates for each order.”

Would you like to know more about how you can save transport costs?