The holiday season is just around the corner and, with it, a predictable surge in consumer demand.
This can lead to excessive pressure on the supply chain from producers to delivery service providers.
Because it’s easy to foresee the upcoming challenges, it may be wise to prepare logistics solutions for increased demand.
In this guide, I’ll look at strategies to best prepare for what’s ahead.
Let’s get started!
1. Understand Common Logistics Solutions Challenges During The Holiday Season
The first is to understand the common challenges businesses within your sector face during the holiday period.
Common ones include:
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Sudden orders increase
Sudden spikes during the holiday season can overwhelm your systems and operations, leading to inefficient processing and unnecessary delays.
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Balancing stock levels
Managing inventory becomes challenging as businesses strive to balance stock levels, often facing issues like overstock or stockouts.
This is particularly the case for products that are subjected to fast-changing trends and seasonality (e.g.: holiday decorations)
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Traffic and congestion
Transportation systems for logistics solutions may experience delays due to congested shipping routes and adverse weather conditions.
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Increased cost of labour for Logistics Solutions
The demand for seasonal workers increases during the holiday period.
This increases the cost of temporary employees and causes potential labour shortages and difficulties in staffing.
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Trend changes
Over the holiday period, there can be a surge in returns and exchanges due to gifting.
This can add complexity and interfere with reverse logistics.
Suppliers and manufacturers may also face material shortages due to increased demands.
When this occurs, your logistics business will be affected too.
2. Learn From Last Year’s Challenges and Get Started In Advance!
Above, we’ve looked at some of the most common challenges that logistics solutions experience before, during, and after the holiday period.
However, each organization is unique.
For example, companies with highly seasonal products, like Christmas items, may face specific problems.
Oppositely, businesses supplying logistics solutions and delivery services to healthcare, which isn’t as impacted by the holiday season, may deal with problems like congested transportation hubs and routes.
To be ready for what’s ahead, review the challenges you’ve experienced in the past years and plan for the future.
Some key strategies to be best prepared include:
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Secure tools and equipment in advance
If you require more vehicles or specific gear, order it with plenty of notice.
For example, you may hire extra delivery trucks, shipping containers, or personnel.
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Streamline your logistics solutions warehouse
Your warehouse should be clean, organized, and ready to go months before the holidays.
Consider running a complete operation in August or September, discarding old stock and ensuring your inventory can be perfectly organized as it starts flowing in.
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Leverage technology
Data and predictive analytics can help you better understand what to expect from these months of increased demand. And not just by looking at previous years!
These tools pull in wide sets of data from industry studies and competitor insights to help you be best prepared for the next steps.
3. Keep Your Logistics Solutions Business Agile
The last thing you’ll want over the holiday period is to overstock or understock your warehouse, hire too many or too few personnel, or miss out on opportunities because of vehicle breakdowns.
Here’s where keeping your business agile can help.
Some options include using innovative technologies, like last-mile-as-a-service.
They can help you reduce the burden of last-mile delivery–notoriously the most energy- and time-consuming step of the delivery process.
Similarly, you can invest in software that allows you to fine-tune your inventory management, avoiding tying up capital in your warehouse.
Lastly, you may consider outsourcing services to prevent your business from becoming too fund-dependent.
For example, consider hiring vehicles rather than buying them, working with human resources management, or leveraging the principles of the sharing economy.
4. Take Temporary Measures
Next up, let’s look at the temporary measures that you should take to navigate the months ahead with ease.
Here are some strategies that may be worth trialling for the next season:
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Encourage early orders and shipping
You can do so through promotions, discounts, or repeated orders that allow you to adjust for ongoing demand.
Take advantage of important dates like Black Friday!
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Increase temporary logistics solutions labour
It can be extremely difficult to find available labour as the holiday season approaches.
So, consider hiring extra personnel before this time of the year comes around.
This can help you rely on a solid, well-trained team.
Plus, it can be easier and more affordable to hire months in advance!
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Strengthen your supplier relationships
During the holiday periods–and in other times of increased demand–your suppliers will be your best friends.
They’ll do the best they can to meet yours and your customers’ demand, preventing shortages and ensuring continuity of service.
So, be sure to cultivate valuable, authentic relationships with them.
4. Implement Real-Time Logistics Solutions Tracking Systems
Real-time tracking systems are essential for the logistics business and delivery sector, like fleet management solutions.
These systems help optimize routes and track the location of vehicles and parcels in real-time.
This is essential to keep your customers informed and plan delivery schedules and itineraries that are efficient and well-organized.
Plus, these systems can help you save money on wasted hours of labour, inefficient or congested routes, and fuel!
Consider implementing these systems far in advance, so that your managers, staff members, and temporary hires have the time to learn how to use them properly!
5. Improve Customer Communication
Last but not least, this is the time to maintain open, authentic lines of communication with your customers.
And no, we are not just talking about marketing emails and ads!
You’ll need to build relationships of trust with your clients and consumers, so that should delays happen, you can turn a negative experience into a positive one.
To achieve this, consider leveraging automation, like chatbots, for routine questions and support requests.
However, don’t hold back: you may need to hire a few extra customer service specialists during this time of the year!
And, don’t worry, you are guaranteed a fat return on your investment in increased loyalty and trust, better reputation, great reviews, and, of course, higher sale volumes!
