Busy shopping periods are inevitable during peak seasons such as Black Friday and Christmas. For retailers, busy shopping periods can be a daunting time with planning, preparation and flexibility critical factors in the success of operations during peak seasons.
With Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas coming up in the next few weeks, it’s more important than ever before for retailers to be prepared for busy online shopping periods with non-essential stores now closed in England. With this in mind, online shopping has surged in recent months as Brits across the UK stay indoors to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
According to Yahoo! Finance, 47% of Brits have experienced problems with parcel deliveries since March 2020, meaning that retailers must be more prepared than ever before to cope with the unprecedented demand we expect to see in the coming weeks.
If you’ve read our guide on lean manufacturing for retail, then you’ll know that by having greater control over inventory and the flexibility to replenish stock at short-notice with lean retail, retailers are able to react better according to demand. However, how can retailers use this to their advantage during peak seasons?
This guide explains the importance of having a lean supply chain and better control through the use of a courier service when it comes to busy online shopping periods, such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas.
Ability to Cope With Demand
In-house departments are expected to struggle to fulfil demand and provide goods quickly in the coming weeks, with non-essential shops closed in England until further notice. Where in-house departments will struggle, a lean courier service can remain readily available as back-up support to aid with this overflow of demand.
This means that retailers can increase or decrease the level of collections and deliveries based upon reacting to current demand, rather than relying on predicting future consumer trends. While it’s very easy to predict an exceptionally busy period, which is inevitably planned to be busier than a typical year, it is still impossible to accurately predict the extent of demand.
As a retail courier service, we handle supplier collection and deliveries any day of the week, at any time, so you can trust us when we promise your consignment will arrive on time, every time.
Courier Flexibility
An agile courier service can provide support at the drop of a hat to manufacturers, warehouses and suppliers struggling to deliver stock to retailers and customers on time.
Providing an ad-hoc courier service for the retail sector enables the short-notice request for extra support for additional peak requirements when this wouldn’t be possible with an in-house team.
Reduced Waste
With lean retail, it becomes easier to understand which processes are wasteful and therefore do not add value, making it not only a cost-effective solution for retailers, but also making necessary improvements for the environment.
To better understand how to cut waste (and expenditure), you’ll need to reduce wasted time, cut excessive (and unnecessary travel and processes) and prevent defects, which is very easily manageable with lean retail management. It can directly reduce the impact of holding stock, maintaining an in-house fleet and unnecessary mileage which may, ultimately, create waste.
Promotes a Lean Culture
With a lean culture, company KPIs can be unified with employees working together as a team with a data-driven approach to support with every decision. We work with you to create KPI’s and tailored reporting that meets your exact business needs. So we only report back data that your business needs and wants and for when it is required.
Efficient Transportation
By offering a range of vehicle sizes and consolidation of smaller consignments within our 11,500 sq ft warehouse facility, we can significantly reduce the amount of wasted space present on larger vehicles. With a fleet of vehicles ranging from small vans to XLWB (Extra Long Wheel Base) vans, and the ability to source larger vehicles through our third party partnerships, we can maximise vehicle space and reduce wastage.