Fulfilling the Christmas Rush

Fulfilling the Christmas Rush

It’s officially 119 days until Christmas and most online retailers are already knee deep in planning for their Holiday season. Fourth quarter sales are a huge driver for just about every company’s bottom line and often represent a “make or break” period for yearly profits. For many online retailers, the Christmas season represents 40% of their annual revenue with average order size increased dramatically versus the rest of the year.

When it comes to planning for Christmas 2015, you need to pay attention to what your competitors are doing because online shoppers are getting smarter and savvier when looking for the absolute best deal. According to management consultants Bain & Company, shoppers are increasingly basing purchasing decisions on the speed, predictability, flexibility and cost of fulfillment.

Nearly 60% of online shoppers in the United States report that shipping costs are the primary factor in determining whether to shop online with a retailer. Over 80% of consumers report that they are willing to wait up to two additional days to get free shipping. Delivery date guarantees are important to nearly all (96%) shoppers when they’re choosing among online retailers.

The first thing to do is look at your existing fulfillment and inventory strategy. As one of Canada’s largest 3PL’s specializing in health & wellness, Stalco ships thousands of packages a day with the ability to quickly ramp up and down to meet demand on short notice. Don’t get caught off-guard during the holiday rush. If you are stretched thin today and your product suddenly goes viral causing a sudden spike in demand, a backlog of even a few days in fulfilling orders can be a death sentence when it comes to your customers’ expectations.

“How do I compete with the big guys’ shipping rates?” you might ask. Luckily for you, Stalco is one those “big guys”. By partnering with us, you can start flexing your shipping muscles with flat rate shipping available for as low as $5/package. Stalco’s guaranteed lowest shipping rates give you the ability to offer the free shipping and door crasher options holiday shoppers have come to expect.

Having a strategic partner like Stalco is particularly important when it comes to cross border shipments. International transit times are notoriously hard to estimate because border delays can add anywhere from 1-7 days to transit times and the backlog only gets worse during the Christmas rush. Packages crossing the US-Canada border will be inspected and charged additional taxes and duties if shipped DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) which is often the case if you are using UPS/FedEx/USPS. Stalco ships DDP (Delivered Duties Paid) which means we clear the packages ahead of time and your packages are never delayed or held up.

Last year, due to a shortage of drivers, bad weather and border delays the hashtag #UPSfail was trending as families faced the frustration of not receiving packages in time to put under the tree. Don’t let shipping delays tarnish your brand and create frustrated customers. While it may be easy to blame logistics issues beyond your control, the truth is there are several things you can do now to avoid these pitfalls. Talk to Stalco today about your current holiday strategy and how we can help.