As elsewhere, in the US there is a trend for seasonal shopping. And often this seasonality affects the intensity of deliveries and the work of the entire logistics system of the country. You have probably noticed that the activity of buyers increases in the period before the main holidays, and this time is called the peak shipping season.
What Periods of the Year Are Considered High Shipping Season?
The most intense activity of buyers, and with them the load on dispatchers, become from September to the end of December. This is quite logical because this time is first an intensive period of preparation for the school year, then the time of buying gifts and stuff for Halloween, and then the time of Black Friday and Thanksgiving, which smoothly flow into preparation for Christmas. Accordingly, after a period of calm in the summer, businesses and logistics begin to storm from the beginning of autumn.
How to Prepare for Peak Shipping Season: 5 Business Tips
Of course, far from all businesses are defenseless before the peak season. Representatives of companies selling electronics, household goods, gift goods, and goods for children suffer the most. But in any case, the load on the sales reps and dispatchers increases significantly. Here are a couple of tips on how to prepare for the peak shipping season to avoid delivery delays, lost packages, dissatisfied customers, and lost sales.
1. Be sure to check the balance of goods in warehouses. It’s much better to have a surplus before the season starts than to run out of stock and disappoint your customers. Warehouse management is the basis of preparation.
2. Try to work with several shipping operators at once during the high season in order to diversify delivery options for customers and prepare fallback options for yourself if your main logistics partner is overloaded.
3. If your budget allows, temporarily hire an additional staff of couriers and dispatchers to handle the growing flow of orders. Moreover, it is worth looking for personnel in advance, because during the peak season, many free specialists will already be hired by your competitors.
4. Prepare for the season in advance. This applies to the implementation of automated solutions. It is better to make sure that your CRM will be able to process all orders beforehand. By the way, as an outsourcing partner for improving or developing software, you can choose SmartProvide, this company knows a lot about developing logistics products for business.
5. Be honest with your customers. If you suspect that there may be delays in the delivery of orders, it is better to notify customers in advance on the site. A good solution would be an advertising campaign that encourages customers to make a purchase for the holidays in advance in order to avoid the pre-holiday fuss. This way, you won’t lose sales, but you can get around peak season dispatch problems.
Get ready for high shipping season smartly. Then you can satisfy all the needs of your customers and not lose sales and their loyalty.
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