Peak season refers to the months of October – December and can be an exciting but also stressful time for any brand. More orders to ship, more customer demands, plenty of headaches, and bottlenecks to overcome. It’s a time when you can be very profitable but also causes many businesses to run into a multitude of problems.
Fortunately, there are certain things that can be done to limit the number of pain points during this time of year and maximize your profits.
The first thing that will help your business prepare for the busy season is to partner with multiple suppliers in order to have enough supply to cover the demand. If you don’t account for the influx of demand during this season you will lose out on profit. "Sold out" sounds good but not when you could sell double or triple the amount by accurately preparing.
By using multiple suppliers, you help diversify your product to avoid any shutdowns, shortages, or delays that could impact production.
Doing this can prevent stock-outs and help you grow your inventory for the rise in demand during this time.
The second tip for peak season is to make sure you work with an experienced 3PL. If you’re not, then you run the possibility of having major shipping bottlenecks.
An experienced 3PL brings so much to the table and has the ability to greatly impact how you respond to the rise in demand. They should provide you with transparency and visibility in their process so that you’re able to keep track of how things are going.
Inexperience in this space can cause delays, errors, and complications that will hurt you and your customer's experience.
If your brand has been in operation for multiple years you have an advantage over others. You have access to empirical (historical) data. Looking back over the year you are able to get a sense of what peak season looks like for you.This is incredibly useful and can give you the insight you need to best prepare for the upcoming season.
Using the historical data you should be able to forecast, within reason, what next year's peak might look like and how much stock and shipping you need to prepare for. Keep in mind any external factors or major changes that you have made. For example, if you had a heavy focus on marketing during the year compared to others, you should be forecasting more sales if you believe it was successfully distributed. External factors are another factor to keep in mind. Things like COVID, recession, supply chain, etc.
Being able to track and visualize shipping analytics is an amazing feature of IntelliRate. To learn more about this tool click here.
Peak season can be a stressful time. But, there are simple things that you can do to best prepare for the chaos. By doing these you can have more peace of mind and you'll be better able to serve your clients. Partner with multiple suppliers, work with an experienced 3PL, and use past data to best forecast sales. By correctly implementing these tips you can be proactive instead of reactive this year.