Normal shipping methods to residential addresses include USPS Media Mail, Priority Mail and UPS. Each of these methods carries certain restrictions.

USPS Media Mail is the most cost effective. However, its main limitation is the exclusion of all supplements, dietary supplements, vitamins and natural products. This service is exclusively for bound printed matter. Other limitations include no tracking capabilities and a slow transit time of 7 to 12 business days.

Priority Mail is significantly more expensive than Media Mail. It offers limited tracking capabilities, and transit time to major metropolitan areas is 2 to 3 days, while delivery to outlying areas takes 3 to 5 business days.

UPS is considered to be the highest quality service by many in the natural products industry, but at the same time, it costs about 10 to 15% more than Priority Mail. UPS offers the best tracking and transit times of the three options. However, the normal UPS discount does not apply to residential deliveries and they only offer a 1 to 2% discount on this service. Because of this, UPS is the most expensive option.

In our search, we have found a new method of shipping supplements, vitamins and other natural products at a cost effective rate, with improved transit times. Mail Innovations, a division of UPS has developed a small parcel service that marries the best of UPS and the Post Office. Mail Innovations can offer UPS speed and tracking capabilities at rates that rival the Post Office. The parcels are picked up by the Postal System. The total transit time will be close to half the time of Media Mail at 4 to 8 days, and the cost will be just a few cents more than USPS Media Mail.

The big winners are the natural products companies who ship UPS Ground residential because they can save up to 60% off the UPS rate without having to worry about residential chargeback’s and other fees. Supplements and natural product orders that are considered small parcels, weighing less than 1 pound, can ship for as little as $1.17 – making this an effective method for residential deliveries.

This services has been offered to all Ware-Pak clients as of March, 2010.

Implementing new strategies to “green” products, while keeping prices competitive with synthetic options is key to sustaining your business. Eliminating supply chain waste and lowering logistics costs are ways for natural products suppliers and manufacturers to trim expenses.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association reports that 6.9% of company sales are attributed to logistics, with nearly 40% of these costs going to transportation. As a third party transportation provider, Ware-Pak Nutraceuticals has established valuable relationships with many domestic and international carriers. Large daily volume and a broader range of services achieve lower shipping rates and a Midwest location results in less time in-transit. It is not uncommon for Ware-Pak to achieve savings of 5% to 7% on shipping costs compared to facilities located on the east or west coast. This can drive thousands of dollars back to your bottom line.

Reduced transit time also means a reduced carbon footprint, with reduced greenhouse gas emissions and a higher sustainability rating. As a supplier, lowering costs will enable you to focus more of your resources on sales and marketing, thereby increasing your overall business.

For those of you who don’t know, SupplySide is one of the best ways for the nutritional and nutraceuticals industry to get ideas for new products. The show features hundreds of exhibitors showcasing thousands of ingredients, which make SupplySide East a must-attend for developers and marketers of foods, beverages, dietary supplements and cosmeceuticals.

As a leading third party supplements warehouse and nutraceuticals product shipping service, we feel it is important to “go where the action is”. Attendees of SupplySide East are manufacturers, marketers and formulators. More than 60% of them work in the tri-state area, which creates a unique mix that Ware-Pak feels you cannot find at any other event.

“SupplySide prides itself on having the reputation of the best quality attendees and educational sessions, so we’re pleased to have a sponsor such as Ware-Pak Nutraceuticals with an equally impressive reputation in the natural products industry,” says Holly Tully, Manager at Virgo Publishing, the producer of SupplySide events.

Holly Tully manages the SupplySide group on LinkedIn and blogs for SupplySide as well. You may also follow Holly on Twitter (@hollytully).

This is the first year that SupplySide Connect is available for event participants. It is a powerful social networking tool for Ware-Pak to network with attendees and exhibitors leading up to the show, making it easier to find them on-site. You’ll see Ware-Pak Nutraceuticals on SupplySide Connect and we’ll have various signage throughout the exhibit hall. If you’re heading to SupplySide East in April, remember to please stop by and visit us at Booth #1216.

Fixed costs, as you know, are business expenses that are not dependent on business activity. Fixed costs are often being paid monthly, such as salaries or rent. In contrast, variable costs are volume-related. They are paid in relation to quantity.

If you own your nutraceuticals warehouse, and orders are down today, can your labor cost be reduced?
When you have an in-house warehouse facility for your products and supplements, costs remain constant whether business is booming or busting. By outsourcing your nutraceuticals warehousing services, many fixed costs – such as labor, overhead, space and utilities – can be eliminated. Fixed costs become variable costs. This means, you will only pay for the amount of space used by your vitamins and supplements and the actual amount of products shipped.

Another advantage is that you don’t have to pay to house excess stock. Ware-Pak Nutraceuticals offers customers virtual warehouse capabilities, allowing them to have 24/7 nutraceuticals inventory control and view supplement orders being processed in real time. Clients see which items need to be replenished and which are fully stocked, eliminating excess.

Using an expert in supplement warehousing, such as Ware-Pak Nutraceuticals, to handle your warehousing and product fulfillment also means more orders shipped daily. Warehousing is our business – we process and turn around orders with record speed and accuracy.