HOLIDAY PEAK
Planning for Peak in 2022
We’ve simplified your 2022 holiday sales and fulfillment strategy with quick tips and in-depth guides from Ware2Go’s team of supply chain and fulfillment experts. This holiday season presents a unique set of supply chain challenges, but we’re here to arm you with the tools you need to make this holiday season a profitable one.
Tips to Optimize PeakFulfillment
- Minimize the distance between your supplier, warehouse, and end customer as much as possible
- Fuel is one of the greatest cost drivers in the supply chain, so it’s important to understand where your customers are in relation to your vendors and your fulfillment centers.
Warehousing space is limited this season. Make sure you have your most profitable SKUs in the best location to serve your customers with fast and affordable ground shipping options.
Consider relocating slower-moving SKUs into deep storage or liquidating them to reduce storage costs and make room for faster-turning inventory.
To ensure the best rates and highest service levels from your warehouse partners, communicate your demand forecast early and often so they can schedule labor appropriately.
Sharing sales and promotional schedules with your fulfillment partners will help them prepare for spikes in order volume.
2022 Peak Trends
Ware2Go, a UPS Company, recently hosted a data study across consumers and merchants to arm you with the insights needed for a successful 2022 holiday shopping season.
ESSENTIAL RESOURCES
2022 PEAK PLANNING
Port Congestion and Warehouse Space: Top 3 Things You Should Be Doing Right Now
This video has our top three tips to prepare for a successful Peak holiday shopping season in spite of port congestions, warehouse capacity, and inventory.
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Holiday Shipping: Do’s and Don’ts for a Successful Peak
From this year’s holiday shipping deadlines to navigating shipping delays, this helpful guide contains everything you need to know to meet consumer expectations for shipping this peak season.
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Top Four Strategies for Supply Chain Resilience
Build a resilient supply chain that meets customer expectations and propels your business forward in the face of disruption.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Peak shipping season is a result of the holiday shopping season. Peak season has always been a major seasonal sales driver for most merchants, but since the recent ecommerce boom, peak fulfillment and shipping have been a top concern for merchants looking to acquire new customers during the holiday season.
Peak shipping season begins at different times for all merchants, but according to Ware2Go’s merchant survey data, 30% of merchants began to see peak season sales as early as September this year. Peak shipping season ends after holiday returns have been made — typically by late January or early February. For ecommerce holiday sales, merchants should expect return rates of up to 40%.
To prepare for peak season, merchants should order inventory according to their demand forecasting models and supplier lead times, determine their marketing budget and build an advertising plan accordingly, and strategically position their inventory to achieve the best possible shipping speeds without sacrificing margins. (For more detailed tips, download our peak planning resource guide.)
Outsourcing peak shipping season to a 4PL or on-demand fulfillment partner is a great way to quickly scale up fulfillment operations to meet seasonal spikes in demand. In a 2020 survey, 44% of merchants indicated that outsourcing fulfillment simplified their operations. Additionally, outsourcing peak shipping can help SMB’s overcome the challenge of peak season carrier pickup caps.
A UPS Company