Ecommerce businesses are navigating a complicated and expensive shipping environment, with many teams are searching for practical ways to reduce costs without adding more work. In a recent webinar, EasyPost and Supply Chain Now teamed up to discuss the most effective strategies to do just that.
The webinar brought together four professionals who spend their days helping shippers simplify operations, prevent surprises, and keep margins healthy:
- Emily Buehler, customer success manager at EasyPost, who supports shippers as they troubleshoot issues, adopt new tools, and grow their operations
- Chelsey Crockett, growth specialist at EasyPost, who works with businesses to evaluate carrier options and uncover savings
- Scott Luton, the founder and CEO of Supply Chain Now and a globally recognized industry thought leader
- Tevon Taylor, a logistics leader with experience at both enterprise and small-business levels
Their conversation focused on strategies your business can apply quickly, affordably, and with minimal operational disruption.
Why shipping feels more challenging right now
If shipping feels harder (and more expensive) than ever, don’t worry—you’re not alone. Ecommerce businesses across the world are dealing with new or intensifying shipping challenges.
For one thing, shoppers are changing their spending habits, making it difficult to predict when they’ll buy. Emily shared that EasyPost’s data shows consumer confidence dropping by about 20% over the past year, which affects demand patterns and makes peak season planning more important than ever.
At the same time, carriers continue to update surcharges and service guidelines. This can be especially frustrating if your business prefers a “set it and forget it” approach. As Chelsey put it, “You really have to have your head on a swivel and be looking out for any headwinds.”
For your business, the easiest way to navigate this is to stay aware of small adjustments that prevent bigger issues later—especially in packaging, carrier selection, and basic invoice review.
Rate shopping: A low-effort way to unlock savings
Throughout the webinar, rate shopping came up repeatedly as a simple and immediate win. Many ecommerce operators assume they need to ship large volumes to benefit from comparing carriers, but the panel made it clear that speed and flexibility matter more than size.
Chelsey noted the advantage smaller teams have: “When you’re smaller, you can be more agile, you can be more flexible.”
By comparing multiple carriers in one view, you can spot better rates instantly. Emily explained that adding one additional carrier helped an EasyPost customer secure stronger pricing ahead of peak season.
For your business, this may be as simple as enabling an additional carrier you already have access to or looking at service levels you haven’t used before.
And if you’re not currently using a multi-carrier shipping API like EasyPost to integrate with multiple carriers, that’s your first step.
Preventing dimensional weight surprises
Few things frustrate shippers more than unexpected dimensional (DIM) weight charges. The good news is that this is one of the easiest problems to fix.
Chelsey explained one of the main solutions: “Not having boxes filled with empty space is a huge, huge area where people can avoid things like DIM charges.”
You can reduce DIM-weight issues quickly by:
- Using right-sized boxes for common orders
- Updating SKU dimensions so your system selects the right packaging
- Training staff on simple packing standards
- Taking advantage of cubic pricing on USPS services
These steps are inexpensive to implement and can remove a major source of surprise fees, especially during peak season.
Optimizing cartonization and pallet planning
Even though pallet optimization can seem like a big lift, the panel encouraged businesses to begin with light-touch improvements.
It all starts with immersing yourself in the warehouse. As Tevon put it, “Optimization is not done by a spreadsheet in an office. [You’ve] got to walk the dock.”
Your business can start improving pallet planning without investing in new equipment. Look for the following:
- Partially filled pallets
- Boxes that could have been combined or reoriented
- LTL shipments that might ship cheaper as parcel
These straightforward checks will help control costs without requiring a new workflow.
Take advantage of perks you already have
Another quick win is making sure you get full value from the perks your carriers already offer.
Chelsey pointed out that USPS Priority and Ground Advantage include $100 of insurance at no additional cost. If you routinely add insurance to orders under that amount, you could remove that expense immediately.
She also shared a striking example of the cost of missing small details: a shipper accumulated thousands of dollars in address correction fees simply because they didn’t use the free address verification software they already had available.
To prevent similar losses, check invoices periodically and make sure you’re not paying for something your carrier or shipping software provider already covers.
Wondering where to start? A few easy steps …
The panel surfaced several steps that are quick, affordable, and effective:
- Walk the warehouse floor. You can spot packaging waste or pallet inefficiencies in minutes, and your team can correct them the same day.
- Review recent invoices. Looking at the last one or two billing cycles often reveals clear patterns—fees, surcharges, or address corrections—that your business can address immediately.
- Enable an additional carrier. Even if you stick with your go-to partner, having a backup gives you options when rates spike or service changes. Shipping software like EasyPost is a great way to expand your carrier library without the hassle of managing multiple integrations.
- Lean on simple analytics. You don’t need a complex dashboard, just a clear view of common fees, top service levels, and where costs are drifting upward.
Each of these changes delivers value without requiring big investments or long projects.
The best course of action for growing businesses
Small and mid-size ecommerce brands often underestimate the advantages they already have. You can move faster than enterprise shippers and make changes without months of internal approval.
Chelsey described working with businesses that started in garages and scaled to multi-warehouse operations.
Her observation was simple: “We see more successes than we do failures, and it’s awesome.”
That path is more common than you might think. If your business focuses on simple, repeatable improvements—and uses tools that reduce manual work—you’ll be able to grow without spending hours managing shipping.
Final thoughts
Shipping will never be the most exciting part of running a business. But it also shouldn’t be the part that keeps you up at night.
By rate shopping, using right-sized packaging, reviewing invoices, and leveraging tools already available to you, your business can cut costs while keeping shipping in the background where it belongs.
That way, as the broader logistics landscape continues to shift, your logistics strategy will easily keep pace.
This article is just a snapshot of the full webinar. To hear the whole conversation, watch the full recording here.
Want easier, more affordable shipping?
If you want to reduce costs, avoid surprises, and simplify the shipping process, EasyPost gives you the tools to do it—without adding complexity to your workflow.
