Freight Procurement Software – What, Why, and How?

Cross-border eCommerce is gaining more and more traction with more than 2.14 bn people worldwide buying goods and services online and 70% of online buyers shopping from foreign websites. Statistics report that the industry is going to hit the $4 bn USD mark by 2027, demonstrating a CAGR of 27.4%.

However, the ground reality of cross-border logistics operations and processes is grim. This is because the businesses and retailers looking for international deliveries are grappling with manual freight procurement, which is inefficient, time-consuming, and confusing.

Here, we explore some of these operational and process pain points and how a reliable and robust freight procurement software can resolve them.

What Is Freight Procurement Software?

A freight procurement software automates a few or all of the procurement processes and operations. It facilitates automated negotiations via dynamic bidding or tendering, where all the shipping line operators participate in the bidding or tendering process.

This takes out the manual work out of the entire RFQ (request for quote) process. Also, businesses looking for international deliveries can easily choose the shipping lines depending on the quotes they receive.

The software has a dashboard that comes with various options and features. As numerous shipping lines and freight forwarders are visible in the same window, the cross-border shipping charges can be checked, and compared with ease.

The features of freight forwarding software can vary across the vendors and can comprise tracking, shipment history, connecting with importers, etc.

Challenges in Freight Procurement

One of the most critical challenges is the manual effort involved in the entire process. Right from gathering infromation about the shipping lines available on the route that meet the cost criteria to the delivery deadline, to the documentation and customs navigation formalities – the businesses have to do everything manually.

A lot of this communication is via emails, which might also expose sensitive information to third parties and is confusing.

Further, the businesses have no way of comparing the prices across multiple shipping lines as manual collaboration is time and effort-consuming.

How to Choose a Freight Procurement Software?

Choosing the right freight procurement software is a must for unlocking the best benefits of automation and digital logistics management. Below we discuss the key considerations that you must keep in mind while choosing a freight procurement software for your business.

1. Easy to use interface
2. Dedicated support for onboarding
3. Features and functionalities
4. Custom features
5. Pricing that fits your budget

While there are a large number of software options available when it comes to freight procurement, we recommend investing in a solution that evolves as per the business needs and scales well, is a must.

SaaS-based logistics solutions providers like Shipsy, are one of the most reliable options as they offer a high degree of customization, flexibility, and robust end-to-end support for all types of queries. For more information and to get started with reliable and intuitive freight procurement software, please get in touch with our team or schedule a demo today.