Benefits of LCL Shipping

When shipping goods internationally, there are two main shipping methods. The first is known as full container load (FCL) shipping, which requires you to wait to ship your goods until you have enough orders to completely fill a container, and the second is known as less than container load (LCL), which allows you to ship your goods as they are available, whether you fill up the entire container or not. If you’re not a large volume shipper, consult an LCL shipping calculator to determine your costs, then consider these benefits of LCL shipping to optimize your business.

Consistent Shipping and Delivery Times

Since with LCL shipping you don’t have to wait until you fill a container before your goods can ship, you can take advantage of consistent weekly sailing schedules for container ships. This means you can ship your goods on the same day every week, no matter how much you’re shipping. You purchase space on a ship based on the volume of your goods and just pay for the space you take up every week. You don’t have to pay for a full container and you can provide consistent delivery times to your customers.

Keep in mind that today, customers don’t want to wait for their products any longer than they have to. If you aren’t able to fill a container, your customers will have to wait for those products until you can. You might not even be able to tell them when their products could arrive or you might end up having to refund their money if you can’t meet your delivery promises. LCL shipping allows you to give your customers what they want every time.

Accept Orders on Demand

With LCL shipping, you can keep less inventory on hand, which means you don’t have to pay for as much warehouse or storage space. You’re able to accept orders on demand and ship shortly thereafter because you know their orders will make the next weekly departure time. When you use FCL shipping, you’re probably going to have to order weeks, if not months in advance to make sure you have inventory on hand to avoid shipping delays. And, of course, you’re going to need space for all that inventory.

Gain Flexibility

Using the LCL shipping method means you’ll be working with a consolidator that puts together several customers’ orders to fill an entire shipping container. The consolidator pays for the entire container up front and charges each customer based on the volume they take up with their orders in the container. You get the flexibility of being able to ship your goods whenever you need them to be shipped, which is good for your customers.

It’s also good for your wallet because even though on a per-cubic-foot basis, you’ll pay a higher amount for LCL shipping than for FCL shipping, you won’t be paying for space you don’t need. Moreover, you will have more satisfied customers when they get their orders on time and you won’t waste money on inventory storage when you can basically ship as your customers place their orders.

Conclusion

There are many benefits to LCL shipping, especially if you’re a low-volume shipper. Just be sure to carefully research your consolidation partner and you may never ship another way again.