- Original Poster
- #1
Bit of a niche one, but I’m hoping some people here won’t mind sharing how they do things.
I work in logistics for a big healthcare company and spend most of my time buried in parcel data – couriers, failed deliveries, weird surcharges, that kind of thing. It’s all very glamorous.
On the side I’m looking at whether a “lightweight tender” approach (basically a proper review of rates and service, but without the corporate bollocks) actually makes sense for smaller UK businesses, or if most people just want something that works and don’t care beyond that. It's a service that would hopefully secure cost savings for many SMB's. We saved 25% on one of our divisions return parcel prices this year. Whilst we have a huge business and scale, savings from doing parcel tenders are extremely common, even if we aren't talking about tens or hundreds of millions in yearly spend on parcels. Even at £20,000 yearly parcel spend it is not only possible, but common to have relatively large savings percentages, and who would complain about a couple grand in savings?
If you run a UK business that ships physical products, I’d love to hear:
– Which couriers you’re using (RM / DPD / Evri / DHL etc.)
– How you ended up with them (price, recommendation, easiest to set up…?)
– Whether you’ve ever properly reviewed what you’re paying since you first set it up
– What winds you up the most about your current setup – cost, reliability, tracking, surcharges, lost parcels, something else?
– Is this service would potentially be something you'd be interested in doing for your business on a 'no savings no fee' basis?
I’m not trying to flog software or anything here, just trying to work out if the problems I see at work actually show up in smaller businesses too, or if I’m overthinking it.
If anyone would be up for a quick chat about how you handle shipping in your business, I’d really appreciate it. Happy to share what I’ve seen go wrong (and right) on the logistics side in return – might help you avoid a few headaches down the line.
If this isn’t ok for the group then mods feel free to remove.
I work in logistics for a big healthcare company and spend most of my time buried in parcel data – couriers, failed deliveries, weird surcharges, that kind of thing. It’s all very glamorous.
On the side I’m looking at whether a “lightweight tender” approach (basically a proper review of rates and service, but without the corporate bollocks) actually makes sense for smaller UK businesses, or if most people just want something that works and don’t care beyond that. It's a service that would hopefully secure cost savings for many SMB's. We saved 25% on one of our divisions return parcel prices this year. Whilst we have a huge business and scale, savings from doing parcel tenders are extremely common, even if we aren't talking about tens or hundreds of millions in yearly spend on parcels. Even at £20,000 yearly parcel spend it is not only possible, but common to have relatively large savings percentages, and who would complain about a couple grand in savings?
If you run a UK business that ships physical products, I’d love to hear:
– Which couriers you’re using (RM / DPD / Evri / DHL etc.)
– How you ended up with them (price, recommendation, easiest to set up…?)
– Whether you’ve ever properly reviewed what you’re paying since you first set it up
– What winds you up the most about your current setup – cost, reliability, tracking, surcharges, lost parcels, something else?
– Is this service would potentially be something you'd be interested in doing for your business on a 'no savings no fee' basis?
I’m not trying to flog software or anything here, just trying to work out if the problems I see at work actually show up in smaller businesses too, or if I’m overthinking it.
If anyone would be up for a quick chat about how you handle shipping in your business, I’d really appreciate it. Happy to share what I’ve seen go wrong (and right) on the logistics side in return – might help you avoid a few headaches down the line.
If this isn’t ok for the group then mods feel free to remove.
