Preparing your Supply Chain for Black Friday and the Holiday Rush
Black Friday and the Holiday Sales rush is nearly here or for some firms has already started. Even with the ongoing pandemic, consumer holiday spending is still predicted to be slightly higher than in 2019, resulting in over a trillion dollars of commerce. While much more of this volume will be online than in person when compared to the prior year, it will still represent an immense chunk of overall revenue for many firms.
You need to make sure your supply chain is well-positioned to handle this sales push.
Let’s take a supply chain dive and look at some of the top tips to make sure your supply chain is ready for black Friday and holiday sales rush!
1 . Inventory is Crucial!
Transportation shortages, including the now widely felt container shortage for transpacific freight, has caused many firms to feel much higher rates as the 3rd quarter progressed than they did earlier in the year or even in 2019. This means that you will need to expect more delays in shipping and increased lead time. While many firms have already imported much of their holiday inventory, others are still working hard to get their freight shipped into the US. Take a long hard look at your previous year’s holiday sales numbers and make sure that your inventory is high enough to support at least that level of sales.
Numerous firms have been caught off guard since the economy struggled during the 2nd quarter, with many predicting much less consumer demand than normal for the remainder of the year. Thankfully, for the US economy as a whole, the economy including consumer demand and spending has bounced back quicker than nearly anyone thought it would. While there are still underlying serious economic concerns, including high unemployment, high consumer debt, etc, overall, the US economy has proved more resilient than many thought possible.
2. Book Transportation
Book any needed transportation as early as possible, as capacity will remain tight throughout 2020. Make sure that you are working with transportation partners and communicating as early as possible the lanes and volumes you are predicting, this will help to ensure you have the capacity in place to move your freight. This includes working with LTL carriers, intermodal providers, freight forwarders, trucking companies, and any other supply chain partners you work with. Communication and lead time is critical in a tight market. The simple reality is that you will also be experiencing higher rates than normal throughout 2020.
3. Plan your Distribution
How is your product getting to end buyers? Again, forecasting is key, with proper data analytics you can much more accurately plan where will volume will be needed. This gives you the ability to even lock in capacity in short term contracts and work with any logistics partners to make sure they will have capacity available.
Final Mile delivery is also experiencing a crunch in the capacity as e-commerce sales have exploded. Again, if you are working with third party fulfillment providers, work with them to clearly communicate expected volume.
4. How to control costs?
Supply Chain costs have hurt many companies this year as firms got used to the lower rates of late 2019 and early 2020. Rates are predicted to remain high for at least the next 4 months, with many experts expecting high rates into 2021. Again, planning is everything, communicate with logistics partners when and where capacity will be needed. Also, consider mini bids or short term contracts to help lock in capacity. We don’t recommend signing 12-month contracts as this time as rates are so high and so volatile that any prediction into mid-2021 will be highly inaccurate.
Consider incorporating intermodal on long haul lanes for an average 10-25% cost reduction from over the road service options. Intermodal is also an extra source of capacity that is less volatile than the OTR trucking marketing. If you are interested in pricing or trialing intermodal service options, let us know!
For many firms, parcel pricing is rising as well, again work with your supply chain partners to better leverage your volume for discounted rates or reduced accessorials.
5. Document Everything
As you plan out your holiday and black Friday supply chain strategies, document everything at a very detailed level. This will ensure that any team member, if necessary can step in, in case someone is out due to illness etc, and make sure your supply chain has a level of contingency built into its operations.
These plans will also provide a basis for future improvements as you make notes of what worked well and what didn’t.
6. Get your Technology Ready
Most firms have coordinated a holiday and black Friday sales rush with a highly remote team like they will this year. Make sure your technology and communication internally and between your firms and supplies/ logistics partners are strong and functions well while working remote.
A much higher percentage of black Friday will be through eCommerce channels than ever before due to coronavirus. Make sure that your online infrastructure can handle this increase in volume and function with many more users placing orders, tracking shipments etc.
7. Get your team ready
Make sure your facilities, including support staff for any technology you have, are ready and scheduled to handle the rush over the next few months. Bad customer service or a lack of personnel can put a drastic strain on any business and quickly turn a customer away to a competitor or generate a bad review. You don’t want to be in that situation when it is avoidable.
8. Shipping Speed
The Amazon effect is fully entrenched in the e-commerce industry and spilling over into any product business. Quicker shipping time is a competitive advantage over peers and can be the reason that consumers make the purchasing decisions that they do. Amazon’s investment into quick shipping is forcing thousands of firms to spend more on supply chain investment to increase shipping speed. Work with your supply chain and distribution partners to speed up your shipping. Don’t forget to communicate clearly with your marketing and customer service teams the shipping speeds that should be included in promotional materials and offers!
About zmodal!
Zmodal is a digital logistics provider with easy access to North American trucking and intermodal rail service options all through our easy to use dashboard. Search routes, pricing, and book a load within minutes, all while featuring data analytics, digital document management, 24/7 support, and full shipment visibility. We prioritize customer relationships and supply chain optimization to make your supply chain more cost-effective and reliable! Contact Us Today
