If your business needs to ship internationally, you no doubt realize that costs can add up over the course of weeks, months and years.

Since international shipping is a necessity, however, you can’t merely neglect this aspect of your business to save money. Instead, you need to come up with ways to minimize costs. With that said, here are 5 ways your company can reduce international shipping costs.

Choose the best transportation option

Carefully selecting the best mode of transportation can help you to control international shipping costs. Of course, the products and services you need to transport will factor into whether or not one mode of transportation might be more suitable than another. However, there will be circumstances in which multimodal transport can be used. One rule of thumb is that shipping by plane tends to cost more than it does to by ship by other forms of transport. So be sure to familiarize yourself with the international shipping rates for various transportation modes so that you can choose the best one for you, and reduce the hit to your budget at the same time.

Supply chain management

You need to have a thorough grasp of all levels of your transportation chain – from the supplier to the customer – in order to find any inefficiencies and to cut out any unnecessary costs. Another benefit of going this route is that you’ll be better positioned to quickly address problems, which will save you precious time and financial resources going forward. Again, keep your eyes on your supply chain and you’ll find it easier to reduce international shipping costs.

Go hybrid

When it comes to selecting which mode of transportation to use when shipping internationally, you don’t have to settle for only one. You can, in fact, go for a hybrid solution. What this means is that you can select a mix of transportation modes to customize an ideal shipping solution. Choosing combinations of ocean, air and ground can potentially get your products where they need to be while saving you money in the process.

Ensure to insure

Insurance costs money, but it could cost more if you don’t insure. For instance, things can happen during international transport – such lost or damaged products. Get an insurance policy that is appropriate for the inventory you need to ship, and be sure to find out exactly what the insurance covers so that there are no surprises should you have to file a claim.

Logistics matter

If you go with a logistics service provided by a third party, you can obtain critical information on shipping patterns as well as shipping procedures. With this information, you can substantially lessen your costs when it comes to international shipping.

As you can see, there are many ways you can reduce international shipping costs. There’s no reason to pay more than you really have to for international shipping, so consider these 5 tips and start saving serious money today.