b'VOX POPNISH TEESJames Hodgson, Ownerwww.nishtees.caUnique graphic tees with a retro flair which are mostly T-shirts orLike many companies, Nish Tees is struggling with high shipping costs for their graphic T-shirtsW ith shipping, I cant identify any obvious issues. We use Canada Post to ship our products directly to clients, imprinted apparel, and they have been a cost-effective partner for the past sevenas two separate shipments. Thats stillSATYA ORGANIC years. While everyone has experiencedand Canada Post. We are getting very recent price hikes in shipping, their costsnot a deal-breaker since we do find theygood at this, but it is still something seem rather reasonable compared tostill have competitive rates at this level,that I hope we will see automated soon.the alternatives. Still, we are lookingbut it also depends on where each ship-at additional Canada Post integrationment is going. It is more costly to ship with our website that would allow us tolarger boxes to, say, Vancouver over provide a more accurate shipping costHamilton. So, we approach shippingPatrice Mousseau, Ownerper shipment at checkout. This wouldfor these jobs on a case-by-case basis,www.satya.cahopefully allow us to maximize salesusing different carriers depending onNatural skincare for eczema andin what is forecasted to be a recession.their volume, destination and timing. Fordry skinexample, our second go-to company for As for how we handle shipping fees,shipping is Purolator, and then UPS for when customers shop on our site directlyorders that require rush service. and purchase items from our online store, they can have their items shippedOf course, delivering in-person can or picked up at our Peterborough loca- often make that cost drop significantly. tion. Customers are responsible forWe recently purchased an Outback as it shipping costs, ranging from $12.99boasts a large cargo capacity, but even for delivery in Ontario, $15.99 to allwith a U-haul van rental for those runs of other provinces, and $20 for interna- 2,000 tees, making a personal delivery tional shipping. Typically, online shop- to Toronto usually makes more sense pers average two to three items per ship- than using a large courier. ment, so this price schedule worked for us in 2022, especially since the consoli-dation of our shipping efforts to a singleIve been looking for ways to improve fan, we had to do a price provider, Canada Post, does come withthe shipping experience for our clients discounted rates due to the volume thatand staff. Shipping really only works forS hipping has become very difficult for we output annually.us if we can provide accurate details andsmall businesses like ours. When the tracking for items in a timely manner.supply chain issues started happening With large in-house runs, Canada PostWe currently have an excess of dataduring COVID and everything started becomes a bit more problematic sinceentry between our website and Canadato hit the they have weight and dimension restric- Posts SnapShip service since both sitesincrease. We just had to. It was either tions per shipment. If we need to shipcannot integrate to the extent we wouldthat or go out of business. It was like we 144 shirts (two boxes) to the same client,like. It just means copying importantwere paying to give people our product Canada Post requires us to enter theminformation between our online storeand operating at a loss. Aboriginal BUSINESS REPORT 59'