5 tips for preparing your supply chain for the Christmas shopping season

1. Prepare for an increase in online sales

After months of lockdown and fears of the spread of Covid-19, consumers are still very nervous about shopping in-store so retailers should prepare for an increase in online orders this year.

“Even when customers are happy to go into the physical environments, some people won’t do it and will become online buyers,” explains Martin. “This impacts the retailer in terms of infrastructure, logistics, orders, distribution centres, and customer service”. Preparing these parts of your supply chain will help your business to run as smoothly as possible during the Christmas shopping period and meet your customers’ expectations.

2. Make sure you can deliver orders on time

“Don’t overpromise and underdeliver,” advises Martin when speaking of Christmas delivery schedules. “Customers should remain at the heart of everything you do and taking late orders is one of the biggest mistakes a retailer can make. Don’t be the brand remembered for screwing up the holidays”.

Retailers should make delivery windows and cut off dates very clear in their on-site product information and make sure they adhere to them. “Thousands of people end up buying gifts for the holidays and missing promised delivery dates is a disaster which kills the trust of customers for years”.

3. Go the extra mile

Martin advises creating a seamless shopping experience this holiday season; one that will help customers shop and send their gifts safely and conveniently. “Explore your logistics proposition: can you allow customers to buy all of their holiday gifts online and ship around the world on time, gift-wrapped, with a message?” asks Martin. “Can you help them find a gift and make it easy and convenient to do so?”.   

4. Test out your supply chain

One simple way of ensuring your supply chain is up to scratch before the Christmas rush is by becoming a mystery shopper and testing out different parts of your online shopping experience. “Buy a product from your website and return it,” says Martin. “Live in the customer’s shoes and see how the entire experience actually is”. Teething problems? Iron them out before the rush and give constructive feedback to key teams within your supply chain.

5. Be reactive

COVID-19 has had a big impact on some elements of the supply chain and consumers are still struggling to get hold of certain items. Martin suggests that smaller independent retailers should try to fill this gap in the market by finding local suppliers that bigger retailers haven’t been able to access. Pivoting and reacting to sales opportunities as they arise is crucial in such a challenging market.