03/21/2024
15 Ways Your Brand Benefits from Consolidated Shipping
Retail consolidation services deliver big benefits for brands and vendors. From increasing sales and avoiding fines to understanding demands and reducing costs, here are 15 ways to get the most out of your retail shipments.
The retail marketplace is incredibly competitive, and brands must meet many different needs to impress retailers and get into stores. The good news is that services like retail consolidation can remove much of that hassle and put your products front-and-center.
Here are 15 ways that you can use retail consolidation services (RCS) to get noticed and drive up your profits.
Key takeaways
- Retailers have high expectations that brands must meet to get into stores and onto shelves
- Retail consolidation helps brands to comply with those requirements, maximize product availability, and boost sales
- Brands can take advantage of RCS programs, relationships, and processes to impress retailers
- Other benefits include reducing costs, lowering carbon emissions, building resilience, and integrating with retail logistics
Deliver to retailers on time to maximize availability and increase sales
RCS ensures that your products arrive at stores in line with a retailer's needs. This means retailers can restock your products quickly and make them available for sale. A good turnover of products boosts brand and retailer revenue and keeps retailers and consumers happy.
Strengthen retailer relationships to increase shelf space and get more product visibility
Consistency is key when working with big-box retailers. As they learn to rely on your products and deliveries, they're more likely to look favorably on your brand. This can lead to them assigning you more shelf space and greater product visibility so you can sell more SKUs in each store. RCS gives you the confidence that your products will meet your service level agreements and be delivered consistently and on time.
Avoid On-Time, In-Full fines that can eat into profit margins
Large retailers have strict delivery requirements that they require brands to meet. They measure some of these requirements through a KPI called "On-Time, In-Full" (OTIF) deliveries. Failing to meet OTIF targets can result in retailers fining your brand a percentage of your purchase order. Any fines or penalties impact directly on your profit margins. RCS helps you to comply with OTIF requirements, meaning you can avoid these fines.
Use retail consolidation programs to impress retailers and meet their needs
OTIF deliveries are only one aspect of retailer needs. Big-box retailers will have a long list of guidelines that they will require brands and vendors to meet. Many retail consolidators will have specialized consolidation programs set up for each retailer that meets their exacting standards. These standard operating procedures and programs take account of many areas, including preferred carriers, packaging requirements, loading and unloading preferences, and much more.
Audit shipments to ensure they're completely compliant with retailer requirements
A retailer isn’t just looking for high OTIF rates. They want every aspect of your products and deliveries to meet their high standards. An RCS provider will have a deep understanding of these needs and will audit every retail shipment to ensure it complies with guidelines.
Lower emissions in your supply chain to meet environmental commitments
Retail consolidation brings together shipments from multiple less-than-truckloads (LTL) and consolidates it into one full-truckload (FTL) that is sent to the retailer. Consolidation keeps those LTLs off of the road and ensures that the remaining FTL uses route optimization for efficient delivery. This results in lower carbon emissions and can reduce ground transport emissions by 10% or more. Sustainability is becoming more important throughout the supply chain, so RCS helps you to meet your environmental goals.
Reduce logistics and delivery costs to boost the bottom line
The same consolidation practices that reduce emissions also lower your logistics costs. Rather than needing to pay for multiple drivers, trucks, and other assets, retail consolidation means less overall effort and time, resulting in significant cost savings. Large RCS providers can also negotiate preferred rates due to economies of scale, and pass those benefits onto you.
File paperwork correctly to ensure retailers expect your products
Shipment consolidation providers will file all of the necessary paperwork with retailers in the right way at the right time. This includes advanced shipping notices, delivery manifests, and more. RCS can also integrate directly with a retailer's Warehouse Management System (WMS) and Transportation Management System (TMS) for the effortless transfer and tracking of important data.
Create a more resilient ground logistics network to avoid delivery disruptions
An RCS provider will work with multiple local, regional, and national carriers and trucking companies. If there are difficulties with using a particular carrier, it's easy for consolidators to switch to a different carrier for service continuity. If there are disruptions on a particular route, such as traffic issues or bad weather, RCS will optimize for alternate routing in real time. This improves the quality and timeliness of any retail deliveries.
Work with a retailer's trusted and preferred carriers to ensure everything is done right
Retailers will often have carriers that they prefer to work with. These carriers have a deep understanding of a specific retailer's needs, which minimizes errors, rework, disruption, or delays. An RCS provider uses a retailer's trusted carriers to ensure every part of the outbound logistics and retail delivery process goes smoothly.
Stay up-to-date with changing retailer demands to avoid issues and penalties
The retail and consumer landscape is constantly shifting. As a result, retailers need to update their vendor agreements, guidelines, and requirements. An RCS provider will regularly review these changes and optimize their standard operating procedures so you're always compliant. This helps you to avoid any breaches and reduces fines and other penalties.
Take advantage of RCS relationships to access a wide range of retailers and carriers
Large RCS providers have long-lasting, established relationships with carriers and many of the big-box retailers across the U.S. These relationships can help brands get into stores with less effort than if they were to go it alone.
Enjoy end-to-end retail consolidation to help you grow your brand
Many RCS providers will offer a complete range of services to remove all of your hassle managing products and shipments. These consolidation services include:
- Picking up and receiving your products from your distribution center or other location
- Scanning your shipments and bringing them into a consolidation center
- Managing your freight and assigning it to outbound lanes for each retailer
- Scheduling delivery appointments and slots with each retailer
- Loading outbound trucks and completing compliance audits
- Sending original shipper paperwork to the retailer
- Delivering freight to retail distribution centers and stores
- Reporting on all key metrics and KPIs
Integrate with other logistics services for complete confidence, consistency, and control
Some third-party logistics providers offer RCS as part of a wider range of retail supply chain services. These services can include:
How GEODIS can help
GEODIS is one of the biggest retail consolidation and retail logistics providers in the U.S. and around the world. Here's what you can expect when you work with us:
- A leading on-time, in-full rate of 98%
- Strategically located warehouses and distribution centers throughout the U.S.
- Reach 99.5% of the continental U.S. in two days or fewer
- Strong relationships with major big-box retailers
- A wide and deep national, regional, and local carrier network
- Best-in-class retail consolidation services
- Standard operating procedures to meet retailer guidelines
- Complete quality control and auditing of all retail shipments and products
- Integration with the full range of transportation, warehousing, and freight forwarding GEODIS services
- Real-time visibility throughout the supply chain
Delight retailers by choosing GEODIS as your 3PL partner. Get in touch with us to discover how we can optimize your retail operations to boost visibility, trust, and profits.