The holidays are not what they used to be. In the past, shoppers had to scour the nation in search of the best deals on the market.
These days, they are spoilt for choice. Because of the internet, people can buy whatever they want without leaving home, which is why they are buying more than ever before.
If you own an eCommerce store, you have to take advantage of the spike in demand during the holiday season. The next few weeks will either raise your fortunes or sink your establishment.
What is the Peak Shopping Season?
Many entrepreneurs think that sales only spike during Christmas, but that is not true. You have Halloween, Black Friday, cyber-Monday, and Christmas. Depending on your location, Hannukah may also count
As you can see, eCommerce stores are busiest during the final months. Yes, you have Valentine’s Day in the first few months, not to mention Mother’s Day. But, they cannot compare to the rush that occurs in the last six weeks of the year. Some online entrepreneurs spend the entire year preparing for those three months, and for good reasons. The demand can easily overwhelm the unprepared.
How To Prepare For Peak Shopping Season?
How can you maximize your profits during the peak shopping season? Consider the following:
1). Start Early
Don’t wait for the holidays. Start as early as possible. What can you do during the first nine months of the year? You can look at the data. Analyze the information coming out of your sales channels.
Use this data to anticipate future trends. With the right data sets, you can estimate the number of buyers you will attract, the volume of orders your website will receive, the number of employees you need to satisfy the demands of your clients, the challenges that may arise in the supply chain, etc.
Look at previous shopping peaks. Use the events of the past to figure out what might happen in the future. This information should guide your actions.
2). Optimize Your Website
You don’t want your online platform to crash at a critical moment. Many small business websites are not sturdy enough to withstand the spike in traffic that happens during the holidays. Hire an expert to stress test and optimize your website.
Make sure it can handle the volume of shoppers you expect to receive. Don’t forget to cater to mobile consumers. The number of people that use mobile devices to make purchases grows every single year.
You cannot compete favorably in the current market unless your website is mobile-friendly.
3). Adapt To Google
Google keeps changing its algorithms. You have to stay abreast of these changes. Otherwise, your website’s rank will suffer. The search engine is driven by a desire to deliver the best possible experience to online visitors.
Find out what they expect to see on a website. If you want the search engine to recommend your internet shop to consumers during the holidays, make sure you adhere to Google’s criteria.
4). Check Your Inventory
Optimizing the performance of your website to withstand the spike in traffic is pointless if you don’t have the inventory to satisfy your customers. Keep an eye on your stock. The goal is to avoid extremes.
You don’t want to buy more merchandise than you need. This is where forecasting comes into play. People make many purchases during the holidays, but you can’t guarantee that all those consumers will buy from you.
Inventory management works best when it’s automated. That way, you can avoid human error, and monitor stock levels across several locations.
A standalone inventory management system might be too costly if you’re a small company. But, platforms like Nextsmartship offer the service at an affordable cost.
5). Optimize Warehouse Operations
When a customer makes an order, they expect you to fulfill that order within a set period. This isn’t difficult to accomplish when you have one customer. More than likely, your warehouse is staffed by experienced workers.
They can identify the right items, package them, and initiate delivery within minutes. But what happens when that one customer turns into a hundred hourly customers? How do you respond? Are your warehouse operations robust enough to withstand such strain?
You should find out before the worst comes to pass. Analyze the operations in your warehouse. Identify weaknesses and eliminate them. Take steps to increase your workforce were necessary.
eCommerce stores hire temporary staff during the holidays all the time. You can do the same. Don’t be afraid to automate some of the operations. Do trial runs. Try to prepare for every possible eventuality. That includes a shortfall in staffing and heavy traffic.
If you disappoint your customers, they will run to the most efficient alternative they can find. It isn’t simply a matter of losing their business for the holidays. You could lose them for good.
Note
If you plan to outsource your warehouse operations, you’ll want to pick a partner that offers global warehousing. Doing so will ensure your inventory is positioned at strategic distribution centers around the world. It lets you provide a balanced fulfilment experience.
6). Consider The Logistics
Speaking of heavy traffic, have you consulted your shipping partners? Can they handle the spike in orders you expect to receive during the holidays? If they don’t have the resources to contend with the volume, you can find a more reliable shipping partner or contract multiple shipping partners.
You don’t have to limit yourself to just one. Take a moment to create some new policies and protocols that account for any delays that may occur. Your customers need to know what happens if their packages fail to arrive.
It would help if you also planned for returns. You can’t avoid them. A higher-than-expected volume of returns could throw your operations into chaos.
As you can see, the peak shopping season is a challenge. You can’t expect to profit from this period by stumbling into the last six weeks of the year without making adequate preparations.
Don’t leave anything to chance. Look at your competition. Take note of the mistakes they made in the past and how they resolved them. If you lack the necessary experience, hire analysts to pour over your business with a fine-toothed comb.
You don’t want problems to arise during the busiest season of the year. Look for consultants that can identify and resolve all the weaknesses in your operations early on.
We’re here to help if you need us! Nextsmartship has some of the best ecommerce solutions in the industry. Whether its logistics, warehousing, or inventory management, we have everything you need to run a successful ecommerce business. Contact us today!
