The team at fulfilmentcrowd – a global fulfilment provider, driven by technology, for high growth omnichannel brands – shares common pain points for retailers as peak season approaches, offering advice on how retailers can salvage a bad peak, including considerations for switching fulfilment provider during mid-season.
Lee Thompson, CEO at fulfilmentcrowd comments: “Peak season can make or break your year, and since retailers have started to launch their campaigns early it has become a customer expectation. Black Friday 2024 will see consumers seeking deals earlier, and we see this happen every year! During this time many businesses can feel dissatisfied with rising costs, negative customer feedback, or missed sales opportunities during peak season, as well as experiencing other common pain points”.
8 of the most common pain points include:
- Missed SLAs – Reduced service levels and late deliveries lead to unsatisfied customers.
- Spike in lost parcels – Increased parcel loss, leading to costly replacements and damaged customer trust.
- Increase in customer service queries – Higher customer service demand as customers chase late or lost orders.
- Missed sales – Inability to capitalise on peak demand due to operational inefficiencies.
- Rising costs – Unpredictable cost surges due to operational delays and errors.
- Stressful Peak – Emotional and operational strain on teams as they manage fulfilment issues.
- Damaged brand confidence – Trustpilot score drops plus other negative customer feedback.
- Missed golden quarter opportunities – Poor performance during the most profitable time of the year.
Thompson added: “Switching fulfilment providers mid-peak can feel like a daunting prospect, but a bad peak can do more damage for your brand than good, so it’s worth considering if you are noticing any of these pain points. When choosing a new fulfilment provider, businesses should look for providers that have the capacity to handle surges, use cutting-edge technology, offer flexibility, and have great communication. Working with a fulfilment provider that provides fast and seamless onboarding to support the move is key – creating a transfer plan, ensuring smooth stock transfer to the new provider’s warehouse, integrating systems early, and keeping a close eye on performance can all help make the transition a seamless one”.
During Black Friday 2023, over two hundred thousand (201,529) items were despatched by fulfilmentcrowd on behalf of over 200 omnichannel clients from its top-performing centres in the UK, US, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Thompson noted: “During peak season, having a scalable fulfilment infrastructure is crucial. You should ensure that your warehouses, technology, and workforce can handle increased order volumes efficiently. Reliable logistics and delivery solutions are essential for maintaining customer satisfaction during peak seasons, and partnering with trusted couriers and offering multiple delivery options can enhance the delivery experience. One of the critical challenges during peak season is ensuring that all orders are delivered on time, despite the surge in volume. Leaving customers disappointed during the rest of the year is bad enough, but when certain dates creep up, consumers start to feel the pressure of the season (just like retailers)”.
“In the lead up to peak, retailers should focus on optimising fulfilment processes to manage higher volumes and ensure stock availability. Having an effective warehouse layout all year round is essential, but when it comes to Christmas and other peak periods, you might need to switch things up a little to cater for larger stock amounts, higher staff numbers, and a tighter picking and packing schedule. When it comes to customer experience, post-purchase will play a critical role, with real-time tracking and hassle-free returns becoming key differentiators. Another big trend in CX this year will be the rise of personalised offers and the simplification of checkout processes to reduce cart abandonment”.
Paul Taylor, Chief Operating Officer added: “Forecasting and planning is essential to achieve the best possible customer experience during peak times. However, unexpected spikes in demand often occur at the most unlikely times. It’s so important for our customers to be able to rely on us for our multiple carrier options and scalable network to ensure all eventualities are catered for”.
Prime Big Deals Day (8th and 9th October) has already passed, and with Black Friday now just weeks away (29th November) Thompson shared some last-minute advice: “Be prepared for surges in demand and ensure your technology can handle the spike in orders to avoid delays or outages during peak trading. We help our customers to establish new markets for their products and create global brands through one trusted relationship. Underpinned by the fulfilmentcrowd platform, our network of modern fulfilment centres are strategically located across the UK, EU, USA and AU in key sites that are close to major carrier hubs. We rapidly deploy DTC and B2B multi-territory fulfilment solutions, backed by over 30 years of expertise”.
fulfilmentcrowd’s data from Black Friday 2023 illustrated some sectoral trends with like-for-like sales growing strongly in the beauty & cosmetics (+68 per cent), health & supplements (+17 per cent) and homewares (+17 per cent) categories. This purchasing behaviour also reinforced the so-called ‘lipstick effect’, with consumers indulging in small luxury purchases but holding back on bigger ticket items.