Last update: 25.07.2025
In this blog:
- Familiar paths and missed opportunities
- What is a shipping marketplace?
- Why does choice matter in shipping and delivery?
- How do businesses manage deliveries efficiently?
- How do CheapCargo and nShift work together?
- Choice without complexity
- Further reading: Flexible shipping FAQs
Familiar paths and missed opportunities
For many businesses, arranging deliveries becomes routine. You work with trusted carriers, negotiate good rates, and build familiarity. But like any area of operations, sticking to familiar processes can quietly limit flexibility, especially when delivery requirements shift or new opportunities arise.
Think about how most of us book flights. Few contact airlines directly; instead, we compare routes, times, and prices in one place and choose what works best for that journey. The same principle applies to shipping and delivery.
What is a shipping marketplace?
A shipping marketplace is an online platform where businesses can compare delivery options, carrier rates, and transit times in one place. It works much like flight comparison sites but for shipping. Businesses can explore different carriers, select services based on speed, cost, or destination, and book deliveries without needing separate agreements for each carrier.
CheapCargo, a trusted partner of nShift, offers a shipping marketplace designed to make this process simple for businesses of all sizes across Western Europe.
Why does choice matter in shipping and delivery?
Shipping isn’t a standardised process. Different goods, destinations, and timelines often call for different solutions. For example, an urgent international delivery may require a different approach than routine domestic shipments.
Market conditions add another layer. Freight rates fluctuate, sometimes significantly, based on factors like fuel costs, seasonal demand, or capacity constraints. According to Drewry's World Container Index, spot rates for a 40-foot container surged 41% week-over-week, reaching about $3,527 per container in early June 2025, following a temporary US–China tariff truce. These global shifts directly impact European businesses. For example, rates for shipments from Shanghai to Rotterdam rose by 12% in June 2025 alone, underlining how global disruptions quickly affect costs for companies across Western Europe.
Having visibility of different carrier options helps businesses adapt to these changes, compare rates, and avoid paying more than necessary.
How do businesses manage deliveries efficiently?
Efficient delivery management requires more than carrier choice. As shipping needs grow, businesses often face increased complexity, from booking and labelling to tracking and reporting.
nShift provides a multi-carrier delivery and experience management (DMXM) platform that simplifies this process. It helps businesses automate key steps across their delivery operations, giving them better visibility, control, and the ability to adapt to changing conditions.
Take, for example, a retailer launching a new product with promotional delivery offers, access to real-time carrier comparisons lets them adjust quickly, finding the best rates and transit times to meet customer expectations while protecting margins.
Or consider a distributor managing regular shipments to multiple locations across Europe. By combining carrier choice with delivery automation, they can ensure consistency, reduce administrative work, and stay responsive when circumstances change.
A real-world example is BergHOFF a long-standing customer of both CheapCargo and nShift. As a supplier of high-quality cookware distributed across Europe, Berghoff needs flexibility to manage both parcel and bulk deliveries efficiently. Access to real-time carrier comparisons through CheapCargo, combined with delivery automation via nShift, helps them optimise costs while ensuring reliable service to retailers and customers across multiple markets.
How do CheapCargo and nShift work together?
CheapCargo gives businesses access to a broad network of carriers and real-time rate comparison. When integrated with nShift, businesses can:
- Compare carrier options and rates quickly
- Book and manage deliveries from a single platform
- Automate labelling, tracking, and reporting
- Maintain flexibility while improving operational control
Together, CheapCargo and nShift combine choice and efficiency, helping businesses simplify delivery management while staying flexible in a changing market.
Choice without complexity
Shipping conditions evolve, whether due to pricing shifts, capacity changes, or new customer demands. But with the right tools, from shipping marketplaces to a DMXM platform, businesses can build flexibility into their delivery operations without adding complexity.
Just like comparing flights puts you in control of your travel, comparing delivery options and managing them efficiently helps you stay competitive, control costs, and meet customer expectations.
Interested in seeing how CheapCargo and nShift work together?
Fill out a quick questionnaire and see how much you can save by unlocking flexible delivery options through CheapCargo's marketplace.
Looking to optimize your delivery management? Schedule a free nShift demo .
Want to see CheapCargo and nShift in action?
Further reading: Flexible shipping FAQs
Why does offering carrier choice matter for businesses?
Providing multiple carrier options allows businesses to compare rates, optimize margins, and adapt to fluctuations like fuel costs or capacity changes—keeping both costs down and customer satisfaction high.
How does delivery automation improve operational efficiency?
Automating booking, label generation, tracking, and reporting reduces admin workload, minimizes errors, speeds up fulfillment, and frees teams to focus on strategy rather than manual tasks.
What is multi-carrier delivery and experience management (DMXM)?
DMXM platforms integrate multiple carriers into a unified workflow—offering tools for rate comparison, automated booking, real-time tracking, and performance reporting in one place.
How can real-time rate comparison benefit promotional shipping offers?
With live rate comparisons, retailers can quickly identify the most affordable and fastest delivery options during promotions—balancing customer expectations with margin control.
How does carrier flexibility help during market disruptions?
Access to a diverse carrier network and automated switching enables businesses to reroute shipments instantly when disruptions occur—reducing delays and maintaining service continuity.
Why is integrating CheapCargo with nShift advantageous?
CheapCargo offers real-time multi-carrier rate comparisons while nShift automates booking, labeling, and tracking—combining choice and efficiency for seamless delivery operations.
How do flexible shipping options improve customer experience?
Flexible options—such as delivery time slots, carrier preferences, and transparent costs—meet modern shoppers’ expectations, increasing sales, loyalty, and repeat purchases.
What makes flexible delivery “choice without complexity”?
Advanced platforms integrate carrier selection and automation behind the scenes, giving users flexibility without adding manual complexity or admin overhead.
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