Prepare for the Black Friday and holiday crowds: five tips for online retailers
We have not yet completely said goodbye to the summer or we have to start preparing for the busiest time of the year in online retail land: the holidays. With Black Friday on November 25, 2022 and Cyber Monday on November 28, 2022, the peak crowds really start. For example, you can expect ten times as many visitors to your website as usual on Black Friday. How do you survive that gigantic crowds and continue to provide good service despite everything? We give you five tips!
Tip 1: Bring the order moment forward
Try to get consumers to do their party shopping earlier. As a result, the number of orders is spread out more, making it more realistic that the gifts can still be placed in Sinterklaas's bag or end up under the Christmas tree in time. Keep in mind that consumers prefer realistic information to empty promises such as 'ordered today, delivered tomorrow'. Moreover, the vast majority of consumers understand the peak crowds.
Tip 2: Choose multiple carriers
Suppose your loyal carrier is flooded with packages and can't keep up with the crowds. Then your customers will not receive their packages on time. That is why it is smart to work with multiple carriers side by side. If one carrier can no longer keep up, you give another carrier some more packages. This way you spread the volume and the risk. In addition, you can add a carrier that offers next-day or even same-day delivery. Then your customer can decide for himself what he wants. With the Wuunder software you can easily opt for multiple carriers and create a cost-effective dynamic checkout for customers.
Tip 3: Prepare your warehouse for crowds
At peak times like Black Friday you can expect even bigger crowds than is 'normal' in the time before the holidays. Make sure your warehouse is ready with sufficient workers on the schedule and, if necessary, engage an employment agency for more hands. Also make sure that there is sufficient material available, such as label printers, packing materials and good scanning and printing methods. This way your people can continue working unhindered.
Tip 4: Optimize processes before the peak period
Busy periods are not a time to change processes. That only causes interruptions, misunderstanding and risk of hitches. Do you want to change the process – for example with technical updates of logistics improvements – because you think you will achieve more capacity with this? Then do it before the crowds start or leave it until afterwards. During busy periods, you prefer to leave the work process untouched. Then routine and efficiency are created and you achieve maximum results.
Tip 5: Scale up where possible
If you see another opportunity to scale up before the peak period starts, you should absolutely seize it now. Is your team actually just getting it sorted? Then this is the time to look for reinforcements. You can also scale up and save money by automating processes. Wuunder helps you with this.
