All businesses have one thing in common: they want to maximise profits. For business owners, that means investing in processes that will save time, boost productivity, and increase efficiency. If your company provides physical products, in-house labelling solutions offer a simple but effective way to grow your profitability.
What Are The Benefits Of Bringing Labelling Solutions In-House?
Whether they’re needed for shipping, packaging, or pricing, labels are designed to improve the sales process for manufacturers, suppliers, and customers. As a result, almost all ecommerce businesses – and most retail companies – require the use of labelling machines at some point. While some businesses choose to outsource their labelling requirements to external companies, there are some big benefits to bringing your labelling in-house. You can improve your print quality, rectify any mistakes quickly, and save money over a period of time.
Although you’ll need to invest in your labelling machine, most retail businesses are sure to get a great return on their labelling solutions. From saving time to minimising errors, here are 5 ways a labelling machine can increase the profitability of your business.
#1. Save Staff Time
Manually labelling boxes is a hugely inefficient process. It demands a lot of staff time – and, depending on the size of your operation, can actually take up the time of multiple members of your team. This slows down production and shipping, reducing your business’s capacity to make money. This is also true of outsourcing labelling – you’ll have to wait for the products to be labelled and shipped back to you before you can send them out to customers, adding valuable delivery days to your customers’ wait time.
An efficient in-house labelling machine gives you instant labelling capability. It will take this task off your employees’ hands, giving them time to concentrate on other tasks, including production and quality control. This improves accuracy, speed, and team morale – all of which have been shown to boost profitability.
#2. Reduce Human Error
Using latest technology labelling machines is also an easy way to minimise the impact of human error on your business. It’s easy to accidentally mislabel a box – especially if you’ve been labelling lots of them – so programming a machine to tackle the task for you is a popular way to avoid such errors.
Human error can cost businesses a lot of money. Tasks like manual labelling are liable to cause lapses in concentration, which can result in refunds and dissatisfied customers – and you’ll have to pay to replace the incorrectly labelled item. This means your business may actually be losing money as a result of human error – so it’s important to protect it by implementing a reliable labelling solution.
#3. Mistakes Are Easy To Rectify
Where mistakes do occur with machines, if your labels are being printed and applied in-house, it’s easy to correct these errors before they make an impact on your customers. For example, incorrect shipping labels can be removed and replaced before the products are sent out. This means you won’t have to cover the costs of resending the parcel, and your customers will be none the wiser about potential mix-ups.
If your labels have been wrongly printed by an outsourced company, you will need to wait for them to reprint and reissue the labels before you can reapply them to your products. This can cause delivery delays – a surefire way to wind up with dissatisfied customers. Using an in-house labelling solution will give you greater control over your product packaging precision.
#4. Make Scanning Simple
Improving the scannability of your barcodes is another excellent way to save time and improve customer experience. With a precise, smudge-free printed label, you can make your barcodes and shipping labels more scannable – which is invaluable for customers in the age of self-scan checkouts and next-day delivery.
This also improves the efficiency of your supply chain. Easy-scan shipping barcodes means less time consulting with couriers, and more time manufacturing. As a result, you can potentially make and supply more products in less time.
#5. Improve Your Product Appearance
Certain labelling machines are designed to apply labels with precision, making them ideal for applying product labels and barcodes. Accurately applied labels can enhance the look of your products, bringing value to your products and brand. While adding value isn’t necessarily equivalent to increasing profitability, it can enable you to bump up your prices, or charge more for luxury product lines.
Even if your pricing remains the same, customers will appreciate the new and improved look of your brand, which can translate into brand loyal customers.
Should Your Business Outsource Your Labelling Or Bring It In-House?
While there are clear benefits to bringing your labelling in-house, it may not be the best choice for every business. If you deal largely in software or non-physical entities, it’s likely to take a little longer for you to see a return on your investment in a labelling machine. But businesses that sell physical products – including ecommerce companies, high street stores and other retailers – can all benefit from bringing their labelling in-house.
Even small businesses can see their profits rise if you choose the appropriate labelling machine for your requirements. Outer box label applicators are ideal if you predominantly need a labeller for shipping labels, while specialist print and apply label applicators are also available for more specific purposes.
Maximise Your Profits With An Efficient Labelling Solution
Bringing a labelling solution into your business may seem like a big investment – but the payoff can be substantial. It can increase your team’s productivity, reduce refunds, boost customer satisfaction, and give your brand aesthetic a swift makeover – all of which are sure to improve the profitability of your business.
