The variable costs of fulfillment challenge margins for companies that serve B2B and B2C segments. Thus, it is no surprise to see free shipping policies change to account for unpredictable supply chain costs.
Shipping costs are up, distribution center costs are up, fuel is up across the board . . . companies must either pass it to the consumer through price increases or shipping policy changes.” – Anisa Kumar, Narvar CCO
Source: The Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2023. Link.
INSIGHTS: Outside of manufacturing and production, the animal health industry supply chain functions mainly to replenish inventory used or sold in the course of business. Just-in-time standards established decades ago to account for poor planning and forecasting will continue to add costs to the routine delivery of goods.
Empowering inventory managers with forecasting tools and flexibility in inventory budgets is one way to help manage order frequency costs and still have goods on hand when needed.”
Also see: U.S. Postal Service launches new package shipping offerings, Government Executive, July 10, 2023. Link. Anticipating more demand as UPS workers strike, the U.S. Postal Service launched Ground Advantage, a new way for customers to ship packages that is replacing three existing postal offerings. A previously announced 5.4 percent rate increase accompanied the new service announcement.