Welcome to Parcelconsulting
Welcome to Parcelconsulting
The holiday season is typically the busiest for ecommerce businesses with gift giving and total consumer spending being at an all-time high in regards to the calendar year. With packed social calendars and other obligations for this festive season, people are pressed for time and turn to online shopping, which works to your advantage.
Start preparing now for a streamlined shipping and fulfillment process that will attract holiday shoppers to your brand and keep them coming back even when the festivities have passed.
This is what you need to do—and what you need to know—for your best shipping quarter yet.
You’ve likely heard the saying that goes, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” This is true in many instances, including the complex process of shipping, logistics and fulfillment. That’s why it’s important to plan ahead, even when the event you’re planning for is several months away. It is better to be early, after all. Here are a few items to check off your To Do list as the holiday season approaches.
Establish ship-by dates. Each shipping carrier works with its own timeline of how quickly items will be delivered, and these timelines change during peak seasons. Pick a date (such as Christmas) and work backwards to determine when you have to ship out orders for on-time delivery. It is wise to leave a few days of cushion in case there are any order processing errors or unforeseen carrier delays. For example, if USPS has a ship-by date of December 21st, your deadline could be December 19th. Once you establish a date, let your customers know via your website, social media channels and emails.
Stock up on your bestsellers. One of the most common inventory problems ecommerce sellers experience is not having enough stock on hand. There are certainly abnormalities (such as an unprompted recommendation of your product from a public figure) that result in out-of-stock scenarios, but typically businesses can predict their busy seasons. Therefore, you should start stocking up on your bestsellers to meet the soaring holiday demand. Pre-package them for easy shipments to be even better prepared for the rush.
Be transparent about shipping times. This goes hand-in-hand with the recommendation to establish ship-by dates, but it is worth noting that shoppers should be made aware of any shipping delays before they order. Consumers appreciate businesses that are honest and transparent, even if there are inconveniences along the way. It makes them more likely to return to that business. That’s why customers should be provided tracking information for their orders and regular updates about any changes.
Set up a hassle-free returns policy. Many e-tailers assume that they can avoid returns by making the process difficult, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. They’re actually hurting their long-term business prospects because consumers prefer hassle-free returns. A recent study by Narvar found that 42% of U.S. shoppers returned an item they bought online in the last six months, and 96% of those who had an “easy” or “very easy” returns experience would buy again from that business.
As you can see, there are steps you can take today to be ready for the 2020 holiday season. It will be here sooner than you know it, and this is what you need to know.
Black Friday is the “official” kickoff of the holiday shopping season with Americans alone spending $5 billion in its 24-hour period. Half of those prefer online shopping to browsing in-store, which means every year is busier than the last for shipping professionals. One thing to keep in mind is that Black Friday is late again in 2020, as the fourth Friday of the month falls on November 27th. This leaves only four weeks of peak shopping season, rather than the standard five, so there is a shorter window in which to make deliveries fast enough to keep the customers happy.
Annual rate hikes typically happen every January, and the latest changes were implemented on January 26th of this year. There are few significant changes to domestic mailing, but domestic and international shipping have become slightly more expensive. This is something to consider while budgeting for Q4 and determining consumer shipping costs or how that expense will be included in the product purchase price. Additionally, these rate hikes do not include peak rates and surcharges, which should be researched before the holiday season begins so you can avoid them.
Just as prices change each year, so do shipping deadlines. The exact dates are announced in October and vary among carriers, but they will be similar to the 2019 holiday shipping deadlines. Christmas in particular falls on a Friday, meaning there are more shipping dates leading up to it.
The holiday shopping marathon does not end on or right after Black Friday. In fact, USPS stated the “busiest time” begins December 9th and peaks the week of the 16th-22nd, which was predicted to be the busiest mailing, shipping and delivery week the service had seen. Online orders in particular peak on the 16th, and 8.5 million customers were set to visit USPS for their holiday shipping needs. This means shippers must be prepared to sprint until the final ship-by date, and the shipping process that’s in place can make or break if customers come back and shop in the future.
In the early days of ecommerce, businesses had partnerships with one shipping carrier at a time and would be given access to low rates and exclusive deals. Now, though, savvy retailers are leveraging multicarrier strategies to unlock even lower rates and higher profits. Global carriers—DHL, FedEx, USPS and UPS—have high standards and ship all over the world, which is useful if your supply chain is multinational. Regional and local carriers, on the other hand, have a better grasp on the delivery area and can deliver more quickly. Utilizing both options streamlines your fulfillment, saving you money along the way.
Parcel Consulting has aggregated and partnered with the best options for same-day, next-day local delivery in the United States and Canada. We work with businesses of all types and sizes to provide the best tailored local delivery options and technology for their needs.
We’ve been preparing for this for more than a decade and we’re here to help! Give us a ring to discuss your options at: 833-PARCEL-1 (833-727-2351).
