Increased sales are expected during this holiday season, with estimates ranging between $979.5 billion and $989 billion this holiday season.
Sellers and distributors must always meet high demands and expectations during the holiday season. Some of these expectations include meeting the challenge of keeping stock and shipping deadlines while offering an excellent customer experience.
Companies that are unprepared during such periods will only watch deals slip away, disgruntled customers, and logistical freefalls.
eCommerce businesses need to consider certain measures to survive this holiday. This article will teach you how to prepare your e-commerce business for the holidays and use Shippie's fulfillment solution for easy scaling.
Proper inventory management is the best avenue toward a successful holiday season. Inventory should be designed with the peak demand in mind to avoid big losses from running out of stock, failing to serve customers, overstocking, and tying up capital in unsold goods. Below are some steps in planning and managing inventory:
It begins with understanding what the customers will buy and in what quantity, which means understanding the sales history from previous holidays. Study patterns in consumer behavior, trends of hot products, and times of peak buying.
For example, assuming that a business has a spike in toy sales every December, it should be assumed that similar trends will continue into the same season.
Integrate other factors, including promotions, new product releases, and outside economic factors.
Shippie can translate these factors into very accurate predictions. In fact, according to a recent study by McKinsey, companies with advanced demand forecasting reduce inventory errors by up to 30%, delay costs, and retain happy customers.
Stockouts are costly. Customers still looking for their desired products are unlikely to return, with 73% of shoppers reporting that stockouts lead them to switch to competitors. Using reorder points will prevent this, especially for your most popular products.
The inventory level that triggers a new order is the same as the reorder point, ensuring stock will be delivered before the supply runs out.
The problems of overstocking are no less. Surplus stocks lock up capital that can be gainfully employed elsewhere, for which rent to accommodate it must be paid. Balancing the scales in inventory is walking the tightrope between overstock and stockout. Therefore, conservative estimates with timely reorder alerts are essential.
Dead stock is a common problem in e-commerce. While products may not sell, they block valuable space where more profitable items could have been stored. Freeing this space is critical, especially during holiday periods.
Sell your deadstock using creative strategies which may include Flash sales, bundle deals, and even “buy one, get one” offers helps eliminate slow stock. For instance, combining the sale of an unpopular product that moves very slowly with a high-demand item at a subsidized price will encourage customers to purchase both.
HubSpot reports that businesses using bundling strategies enjoy a rise of about 30% in the average order value.
Shippie identifies dead stock by providing insight with its inventory management tools into which products you must focus on liquidating and reordering. This will keep your inventory lean and responsive, putting you in a better position to handle the unpredictability of the holiday season.
Shipping is the backbone of e-commerce in general and during the festive season. Customers expect rapid and transparent shipping, while delays and confusion may cause the worst customer experience.
Shipping delay during a holiday seriously affects your brand reputation, resulting in dissatisfied customers who leave negative reviews. Therefore, streamlining your shipping operation for on-time delivery and cost-effectiveness becomes a priority.
Here are essential tips to keep in mind:
All shipping carriers, including but not limited to USPS, FedEx, and UPS, set a cutoff date in advance each year to guarantee that orders arrive on time for the holidays before Christmas. These cutoff dates are strict; missing them means late shipments and customer disappointment.
These might include the following dates: For delivery by Christmas, for example, the USPS cutoff was shown to be December 22, 2023, FedEx was December 21, and UPS was December 20. These dates help you set realistic timelines with your customer and help the customer in their planning.
That means spelling it out on the website, with checkout messages, and via email reminders to avoid misunderstanding. This will make customers much less likely to feel frustrated should their orders fail to turn up in time. You'll want to work backward from these dates to set clear expectations around the shipping time frame for each product category.
The risk is far higher when there is a dependency on one carrier in peak holiday seasons as the demand increases. Causes of these risks range from unfavorable weather that makes travel impossible to congested networks. So, diversifying your shipping carrier options will reduce the risk of shipping delays, optimizing costs even further.
Working with different carriers gives you options for selecting the best shipment in most circumstances. You may use one for standard shipping and another for expedited services. Multicarrier network Shippie helps choose the proper shipment method for the business, considering speed, reliability, and cost. Associating yourself with several carriers lets you take advantage of different pricing tiers and always get the best possible deal when shipping your goods.
A fulfillment service that could boost your shipping operation is the one coming with third-party logistics providers. With 3PL networks, you can store products in various places and cut down on delivery time since the order falls into the nearest warehouse from which it has been ordered. It's essential during Christmas when the volume of orders is usually huge.
According to a report by PwC released in 2023, 57% of consumers consider speedy delivery the most important factor when purchasing something online. Shipping helps businesses optimize last-mile delivery with its multi-location fulfillment centers for quicker delivery at an affordable cost. In addition, through its 3PL network, Shippie provides businesses with discounted shipping rates to make holiday shipping affordable.
Today, people like to trace their orders in real-time; this applies to holiday shoppers. Real-time order tracking enhances your customers' experience and reduces or eliminates all shipment status queries. You will reassure them by updating them on every stage of the delivery process.
The integrated order tracking system from Shippie lets businesses keep their customers informed about the status of their orders. Being transparent helps the business receive fewer inquiries about the estimated delivery time.
A study has proved that consumers are 52% more interested in purchasing with a real-time order-tracking company. Such an easy but effective tool will surely enhance the customer's satisfaction, much to the liking of holidays.
This is a very competitive season for holidays in retailing. The best way to differentiate it would be with a great customer experience. Be it fantastic customer service or special unboxing, a business paying attention to customers will always result in better conversions and long-term loyalty.
Here is how you can enhance customer experience:
As holidays are around the corner, queries regarding shipment, order status, or promotions begin to swamp an eCommerce company's customer service. So, at this time, customer service needs to be boosted with the help of properly trained staff.
You can integrate AI-powered chatbots that answer basic and repetitive queries. The response should be available 24/7.
In fact, according to Salesforce, 83% of customers expect companies to respond to them immediately when they contact any business. You can use chatbots or human chat to rescue your support staff from burnout by offering quick responses.
Smooth and timely communication contributes to a better customer experience. Customers love companies that update them if deliveries are late. By updating customers, it earns them trust and reduces frustration.
Studies indicated that 86% of consumers would pay more for a better customer experience that focuses on always keeping them in the know. This could be notifications of delays, availability, and promotions. This way you enhance the experience and make your customers feel special and more likely to return.
Unboxing has proved to be a critical moment in the customer journey in today's social media era. People share more online those extra elaborately curated packages. Dotcom Distribution reports that 40% of consumers would share an unboxing video if the packaging were unique.
Yet, businesses can provide customization such as branded tissue paper, customized thank-you notes, or even small gifts. This would make for a more memorable experience. It will also increase chances that a customer would take a photo of the purchase to post on social media. A personal unboxing experience gets returns in brand loyalty and organic word-of-mouth marketing.
Holidays have always been thought about as times for sales and promotions. Carving the right marketing strategies will let one notice the cluttered marketplace shelves and help in increasing sales. Be it holiday-specific discounts or targeted email campaigns, it is a very critical period for engagement and conversions.
Here are steps to follow to enhance sales:
Holiday-specific promotions, such as sales on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, are considered to be some of the best ways to get traffic on a website. Discounts with a time factor offer a sense of urgency to buy when a deal is on offer within the stipulated period.
Often, flash sales make all the difference, and one has to keep discounting in tune with brand positioning. Offering discounts on the brand will lure new customers without devaluing the selected products. You should aim to attract premium customers since exclusive holiday bundles offer an advantage rather than sitewide sales.
Email marketing can be one of the best channels for reaching customers regarding sales, especially during holidays. Appropriate campaigns, depending on customer preference and based on past purchases, are a sure way of increasing relevance. This has enabled the making of segmented lists through which personalized recommendations and holiday promotions can be sent, therefore increasing open rates by 29%.
Timing is everything. Sending emails at optimal times, like weeks or two days before a significant sale or in advance of shipping cut-off dates, builds urgency and converts. Using a countdown timer or reminding customers of special offers keeps your brand at the top of their minds and forces customers to act quickly.
Social media also tends to be one of the strongest drivers of sales during the holiday season. It can involve getting new customers using Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Holiday-specific hashtags or working with an influencer are often good for increasing reach traffic to your website, too.
Interactive content can also take the form of free goods or contests to attract customers and build buzz for your business. A HubSpot report said that 80% of consumers in 2024 claimed they were more likely to purchase from a company that engaged them on social media. That alone provides outstanding value to social media for driving sales during the holiday period.
Partnering with Shippie will be a strategic move for any e-commerce business looking to scale this holiday season. As demand rises, so does complexity. A good logistics partner ensures customer satisfaction and smooth operations.
Here is why you should partner with Shippie:
Shippie easily integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, ShipStation, Wix, and Magento, for further business operations automation. These integrations then import the orders on their own and create a seamless workflow. Shippie reduces manual input, minimizes errors, and speeds up the pace at which the orders are dealt with, especially during holidays when the sale cranks up.
Shippie smoothes out your supply chain by dispatching drivers for parcel pickups right on schedule, according to your location, ensuring timely fulfillment and minimum disruption. Shippie enhances customer satisfaction because of advanced delivery management.
Companies working with Shippie reported saving up to 35% on delivery costs. They achieved up to 4x faster delivery speeds and a 99% on-time rate. These metrics are crucial for meeting high holiday expectations.
Real-time tracking instills trust among customers. Shipping offers a user-friendly dashboard that tracks shipments to delivery. It enables the establishment and the customer to easily track orders due to its transparency.
Research indicates that 84% of customers would stay with a retailer offering tracking updates, improving retention, and increasing repeat sales.
Customer satisfaction is the heart of Shippie's services. Integrating Shippie into your business will help maintain long-term customer relationships by providing updates and resolving issues transparently.
Excellent service retains these holiday shoppers, significantly improving repeat sales and boosting loyal loyalty- Shippie is your sure partner to scale your e-commerce business quickly.
Shippe provides demand forecasting, real-time tracking, and multiple-location fulfillment centers to ensure smooth operations during the busiest times of the year.
The common ones will be the need for proper inventory, shipment delays, and more transparent communication with customers. Partnering with Shippie mitigates these risks.
Be aware that carrier-specific deadlines vary, but most fall between December 20 and 22 to guarantee delivery by Christmas. Check your shipping partners and plan accordingly.
Success during this period starts well in advance. Expertise in fulfillment, demand forecasting, and last-mile logistics will help your e-commerce businesses run smoothly during peak season with Shippie. Keep the logistic challenges from slowing down your holiday sales. Partner with Shippie today to smoothen your operations.
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