More than 65% of us research products online before we buy, according to Retail Dive. And why wouldn’t we? Getting a product that meets your needs, at the best price is a no-brainer. No one wants to pay too much and no one wants to buy a low quality service. The same applies to buying freight, which is why integrating a benchmarking process into your freight tendering makes perfect sense.
Tendering freight is a great way to see what’s on offer in the market, but you can go one step better and add benchmarking to your process. While inviting tenders means you get an overview of what businesses want to offer you, it doesn’t tell you what the market is currently offering. That’s a subtle, but valuable difference, that could make a big impact when it comes to final pricing.
Working with Xeneta
The market for freight has always been volatile and knowing how capacity and prices are fluctuating in real-time, across the globe, is exceptionally valuable. That’s why we’ve been working with market leaders Xeneta to make sure we offer our customers the best of both worlds. It’s near impossible for someone to stay on top of every freight and trade lane in world, so this type of technology provides quantifiable value to users.
By integrating their platform with ours, TenderEasy users with a valid Xeneta license, can now analyse market prices on ocean and air freight rates across different trade-lanes in real-time. This data can then be accessed in the form of graphs and other visual mediums, to help you identify opportunities and get visibility over your entire supply chain. This lets you see how your prices compare to current market rates and can form the backbone of very productive negotiations!
The benefits of benchmarking
Carrying out a complete analysis of your freight costs will show you how both your spot and long-term rates compare to the market over time. This information will highlight just how well you’ve been doing (or not doing!) when it comes to negotiating the best prices. This in turn is a valuable negotiation lever to ensure your carrier rate agreements represent good value.
If you have any flexibility in terms of timing, one of the key benefits of continuous benchmarking is that you can see when market prices are low. That’s when it’s a good idea to go out to tender. You can also benchmark on a lane by lane basis. This enables you to spot opportunities in relation to your collected rates.
Stop guessing, start optimizing
In short, benchmarking freight rates based on real-time market data is an invaluable tool for anyone looking to secure the best deals. A properly implemented process will guarantee the data insights necessary to stay one step ahead of the market and the competition.
It also ensures you know exactly what represents value for money and empowers you to be more strategic when planning ahead. Combined with a solid tendering process, benchmarking delivers actionable data that has the potential to unite and improve the transport industry as a whole.
Want to find out more about our partnership with Xeneta? Drop us a line on info@tendereasy.com.
