AU Mintsoft
A guide for 3PLs, warehouses and ecommerce businesses coming into the peak shopping season
What you can do now to prepare your teams, systems and stock for increased customer demand. And longer-term strategies to stay ahead of the game.
Introduction
With Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas shopping season almost upon us, now is the time for stock-based businesses to get their (ware)houses in order.
Deloitte's annual holiday retail forecast estimates ecommerce sales will grow between 10.3% and 12.8% this holiday season, and according to the International Trade Administration, Australia’s ecommerce market is predicted to reach $32.3bn by 2024.
The drastic surge in customer demand from now until the end of the year puts huge pressure on businesses to handle orders, shipping and returns, quickly and seamlessly. Whether you’re an ecommerce retailer with your own warehouse, or you’re relying on third parties to store and move your goods, ensuring you have the right amount of stock on hand is crucial to maximising this peak period.
Many businesses log the majority of their annual turnover in this peak period, setting them up for the new calendar year. Making sure you have the right systems and processes in place will help remove the risk of overselling and disappointing customers, or underselling by not having the right amount of stock on hand. The right systems can also support you to fulfil orders accurately and on time, as well as process the increased volume of returns over this period.
So, how do 3PLs, warehouses and ecommerce retailers prepare their businesses for this peak period to make the most of increased consumer spending? Read on to find out, and let us help you make this silly season the best one yet.
What is ‘Peak Selling Season’ and how can you prepare?
The peak shopping season is that time of year when warehouses and online retailers experience a dramatic surge in customer orders and general sales activity. Major holiday shopping events include Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the weeks leading up to (and following) Christmas.
According to the Australian Ecommerce Report 2023, Aussies will spend more than $50 billion online this year, representing almost 13% of all retail sales. This represents a huge opportunity for ecommerce retailers and those warehouses and logistics providers that support them.
But with this increase in demand also comes a growing expectation from customers that the right goods will be delivered on time, and returns will be processed quickly and without fuss.
To prepare for this onslaught of demand, it’s crucial that online retailers, warehouses and third-party logistics providers prepare their teams, their spaces and their stock for the increase in demand. Being on the back foot when customer demand increases may mean a missed opportunity for your business.
Part of this preparation is understanding how your order fulfillment operations performed last season. What worked well? What could have been done better? How are you planning on improving? With increases in ecommerce sales year on year, it is vital for businesses to have efficient order fulfillment and warehouse management systems in place. By streamlining your processes throughout the year, businesses can meet customer demand and enhance profitability during peak time, and throughout the entire year.
Challenges businesses encounter during peak times
During peak selling periods, businesses have their hands full when it comes to making sure orders are managed efficiently, stock is replenished quickly, and products are delivered (and returned) on time. We understand this can be a chaotic time, and thinking about how to manage the madness can be just one more thing on the to do list, especially for small business owners.
So, we’ve tried to do some of the heavy lifting by identifying five of the most common challenges faced by businesses like yours, so you can avoid costly mistakes and missed opportunities.
1. Inventory management
Inventory management can get tricky during peak selling season as you must balance overstocking and understocking. Having enough stock to quickly fulfill orders may seem like a basic thing. But unless you have the right systems and software in place it can be very hard to keep a handle on your real-time stock levels. Selling stock you do not have is a surefire way to erode customer satisfaction, and holding onto stock you don’t need is a simple waste of precious space. In addition, it can be overwhelming for a business to deal with a high volume of orders and the pressure to fulfill them quickly and accurately, leading to delays, errors, and unhappy customers. Having order and inventory management software by your side can streamline your day-to-day operations, reduce manual labour and errors, save resources, and ultimately deliver a better customer experience.
2. Scalability and capacity
As the number of orders increases during the peak season, warehouses and sellers need enough storage space and the ability to quickly expand their operations to meet the growing demand. According to a Logistics Management survey, warehouses are only using about 68% of their available space. But if you arrange things in the warehouse just right, you can maximise your floor space and your ability to stock more products, and support more customers, ultimately leading to more profits.
3. People and processes
Effectively managing your business and warehouse staff is crucial because . The folks who work in your business are key to your success during peak times. From proper training and onboarding of casual staff at peak times, through to striking that delicate balance between automation and human labour, it can be a balancing act. As technology continues to develop, we are seeing many businesses move towards automation to augment the workforce, help reduce errors and remove the need for repetitive manual tasks, which frees up their people to do higher value work.
4. Manual processes
Digital Transformation is big business, but many warehouses still rely on old-fashioned manual and paper-based processes. This can lead to a higher likelihood of errors including lost or incorrect orders, supply challenges and the unnecessary double-handling or stock and orders. However, 77% of organisations are now moving towards order fulfillment and warehouse management software and other automation systems to support their day-to-day operations, and provide valuable insights into their business.
Watch the case study of Australian 3PL Black Bear Fulfillment, who use Access Mintsoft to manage their orders and warehouse. They boast a 99.97% accuracy rating on orders!
Now that we've detailed some of the challenges businesses may encounter during the peak ecommerce season, here’s a checklist to help you maximise this opportunity for a boost in sales and customer satisfaction.
Watch our 4-minute video tour of Mintsoft to see how it makes peak season a breeze.
Peak season preparation: Things you can do immediately
1. Have the right stock on hand
To prepare for the busy peak season, you must have the stock you need ready to go. Look at what people have bought during past peak seasons, do the numbers on your most popular SKUs, research what your customers want (here’s a handy little article from Harvard Business Review), and plan accordingly.
However, for all the planning you do, it's also important to be flexible and adjust when needed because a lot can change from year to year, and customers can be fickle and trends are sometimes hard to predict. Using an OMS like Access Mintsoft, you can create dashboards that show your most popular products, what tends to sell when, and therefore have more of a handle on how to prep your stock for a big selling season.
2. Review shipping partners and pricing
During peak season, prices tend to go up for things like fuel, shipping, logistics and drivers. Make sure your shipping process runs smoothly to avoid delays and any additional costs. It’s a god idea to determine which shipping partners are most cost-effective for your business - some partners offer discounted rates to their regular customers. Peak seasons can be quite competitive, so keep an eye on what your competitors are offering to their customers, so you can ensure you’re meeting or surpassing what they are offering, such as discounted shipping and bundle promos to help secure sales and competitive advantage.
3. Get a handle on returns
Make sure you have a robust process for handling the sometimes tricky business of returns to the warehouse and back out to customers. For example, it’s key to ensure returned products are checked for damage before reshelving and reselling them (if that’s part of your business model), as a failure to do so can result in a downstream impact on future customers. Businesses can streamline these processes through the use of software that helps track a product all the way from dispatch, to delivery and back. So it’s worth exploring your options.
4. Staff considerations
Being able to handle increased demand during the peak season can make or break your business. Make sure you have a hiring plan in place early to give you the best chance of securing casual and part-time staff to support you during the busy months ahead. Give yourself a few months to plan for the roles you will need to hire as it will often take time to find, recruit and onboard these people to ensure they are set up for success during this busy time. It’s difficult to source workers during the seasonal rush, with many businesses in the same boat – so you may even want to consider giving your existing team some incentives like greater flexibility, or a finder’s fee for bringing in referred employees. In situations where you find yourself hit with a sudden surge in demand, specialist recruitment agencies can help make your life easier.
5. Website and online presence
Having a clear and user-friendly website, as well as social media presence (if relevant for your business) is very important when appealing to today’s consumer – be that as an ecommerce retailer specialising in B2C, or as a 3PL or warehouse provider hoping to attract B2B demand. In preparation for any peak selling time, you should ensure your website it up to date with the latest products, offers and contact details, and also keep an eye on your competitor’s websites to see where you measure up and how you can compete.
If you’re an ecommerce retailer, you should stress test your website ahead of peak times to ensure it doesn’t crash with a spike in traffic, and ensure all your payment platforms and integrations are all working smoothly to make the checkout process as easy as possible for your customers.
6. Consider promotions, rewards and benefits
It’s a given now that most businesses will offer deals or promotions during peak selling times like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s worth considering if you can offer your customers something special during this time. It doesn’t have to be a discount, it could be a free shipping promotion, a gift with purchase or the opportunity to go into the draw to win something. Using similar strategies, B2B businesses can use the time to build a network of partners. Most importantly, don’t forget to show appreciation for your loyal customers during the busy peak season, and the best way to do that is through excellent customer service…
7. Customer service
Customers should feel appreciated and valued after shopping with you – they have, after all, chosen your products or services ahead of a whole range of alternatives. From the moment the order is placed until it's delivered, make sure to stay in touch with your customer with updates like tracking numbers and delivery updates. This will also make your life easier as it allows the customer to self-serve on updates as opposed to calling your business to chase up the status of their order.
During the holiday season, it can get super busy, so you can also investigate the use of chatbots to assist customers with commonly asked questions. The bottom line is, make sure to provide customers with multiple contact options like email, phone, chat or social. And if you have one, use your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to keep all your customer data in one place. This will help you to send them personalised messages, special related offers, and keep the relationship going long after the season has ended.
Two things you can do to prepare in the longer term
Leverage your data and insights
Data is the new currency for business. And how you make use of this data can make or break your selling opportunities. Any order fulfillment and warehouse management system worth its weight will be able to give you useful insights to inform your planning. Using a solution like Access Mintsoft, you can create dashboards that surface all kinds of useful real-time data to inform how to prep your stock, systems and staff for a big selling season. Remember, some tools can be tailored to your needs (and others cannot), so make sure to ask the right questions before you jump into an agreement with new system or platform provider.
Implement the right software
Implementing a new software solution is not something you want to rush or do right before a key period of activity for your business. However, it is something to consider once the dust settles – especially if you’ve struggled to manage the peak season and need some new systems and processes to support your business now and into the future.
Introducing Order fulfillment and warehouse management software is a great way to ensure you are prepared to tackle the challenges of sudden order volume, not just during peak season but all throughout the year. Access Mintosoft is the easy-to-use, cloud-based order fulfillment and warehouse management software that automates time-intensive tasks and delivers data-driven insights to help you better manage your business.
It is used by online retailers, warehouses and 3PLs looking to stay ahead of the increasing demands of ecommerce and multichannel selling. It is designed, built and supported by experts from the ecommerce, logistics and warehouse management industries, and supports the operations of more than 600 businesses worldwide.
With 175+ integrations, Access Mintsoft gives you complete control of all your key functions in one easy-to-use platform. You can fulfill orders quickly and accurately, optimise warehouse space and inventory management, easily manage multiple couriers, and automatically consolidate orders from multiple online shopping platforms.
Customer Story: “We simply couldn’t do business without Mintsoft”
But don’t just take our word for it. Access Mintsoft customer Black Bear Fulfillment is an Aussie based 3PL that are raving about the impact this software has had on business.
“The automation functionality makes everything a breeze. The solution is so good that I could quite literally grab someone off the street and have them trained up to be picking and packing within an hour,” Mack Blunsom, Owner Operator of Black Bear Fulfillment says.
“We didn’t use the automated batching feature for quite a while and every single day at morning, lunch and in the afternoon, someone on the team would sit down and make up all the batches that had come in. That was three hours of someone’s day, every single day. Across a week, month and year, that’s huge. That’s a third of someone’s work time taken up with manual tasks we were able to automate with Mintsoft. We’ve saved tones of time and money just with that one feature.”
Read the full Black Bear Fulfillment Mintsoft case study here, or watch the 4-minute video to find out more about how Mintsoft could support your business.
We hope this article gives you the direction you need to get started ahead of this year’s peak selling season. While these are not the only considerations, and you will have specific actions related to your unique business needs, this list is a great place to kick off your preparations.