As the holiday season rolls around, consumer demand can fluctuate greatly. For many businesses, the sudden uptick in orders can be overwhelming — and downright difficult! — to keep up with.
According to Shopify, Black Friday generates 3.6 times more sales and Cyber Monday produces 3.1 times more sales than a regular day in November. So it’s incredibly important to prepare in advance for this increase to avoid unnecessary bottlenecks in your fulfillment and shipment processes.
Having a third-party logistics partner (3PL) to help handle this type of seasonality can mean the difference between expanding your consumer base and watching as your future sales plummet. A 3PL warehousing partner can take a considerable workload off your hands by overseeing time-consuming processes – think: order fulfillment, inventory management, and shipping.
Here’s why working with a 3PL during the holidays can be advantageous for your business.
The time-saving benefits you reap from leveraging a 3PL are simply undeniable. As any business owner or manager can attest to, there’s no such thing as “enough time” when prepping for holidays and major sales events. By outsourcing your fulfillment and logistics needs to a 3PL, you can focus your attention on valuable high-level activities like your holiday marketing campaigns. Ensuring shoppers have a positive experience is pivotal for driving customer loyalty and repeat business – two elements that are crucial for scaling and long-term success. And the best part? You can do all this while your orders are safely stored, picked, packed, and shipped by your 3PL warehousing partner.
Having a 3PL provider on your side can be a significant space saver, particularly if you’re an ecommerce business. This is especially true if you plan to bundle items or if your products are on the larger side. As you begin forecasting holiday demand, you’ll need a bigger space to accommodate the subsequent influx of inventory. The increase in stock can quickly become disorganized and messy without the right systems – and space – in place to properly manage the movement of these goods. This is where having a 3PL partner can come in handy.
Direct-to-consumer, small parcel deliveries can become inundated during the holiday season, leading to shipping delays. Shipping delays can be minimized and even avoided with the right strategic 3PL partner. How? A 3PL with a nationwide footprint will have warehouses distributed across the country in key markets, allowing you to house your products closer to the end customer. It’ll also ensure any pickup caps enforced by carriers (something commonly seen around the holidays) won’t interfere with your business’s ability to handle the increased order volume.
Today’s consumers expect quick, on-time delivery. And the truth is, the marketplace is extremely competitive. If you can’t satisfy the demand for quick shipping, you’ll basically be spoon-feeding potential customers to your competition. Working with a 3PL partner would allow you to optimize your order fulfillment and strategically manage inventory to ensure expectations are not just met but exceeded.
Similarly, 3PL warehousing providers offer last-mile carrier tracking, giving shoppers the power to track their packages – a game-changer for strengthening the customer experience and driving repeat business.
Forget surge pricing around the holidays. 3PL providers have their own established carrier network they’ve negotiated special rates with – all because they do such a high volume of shipping. And as their customer, you can tap into these rates. For e-commerce businesses, offering consumers a competitive shipping rate is crucial for closing sales. In 2022, 48% of consumers named expensive shipping as the main reason for abandoning their orders during checkout.
Having access to better shipping rates can also present new sales and marketing opportunities. For instance, you can offer customers free shipping – a major selling point! – without completely eating away at your profit margins. Not only do consumers expect to see this type of deal around the holiday season, but they also prefer the convenience of receiving items from a single order shipped together (rather than receiving multiple packages). 3PL warehousing can fulfill and ship products from the same order together, decreasing your costs and keeping customers happy.
3PL providers offer unique branding opportunities for your business. From custom packaging to package inserts, you can personalize your orders this holiday season by working alongside a 3PL. Unlike some providers, like Amazon, you’ll be able to highlight your brand in a way that builds recognition and creates a positive customer experience. Don’t discount these kinds of touchpoints – customers love personalization and providing a sense of community among your audience can truly separate you from competitors.
Want to accommodate the holiday rush? Smart Warehousing can help your business satisfy shipping expectations, handle increased demand, and strengthen customer loyalty. With over 20 years of experience and 30 warehouses across the U.S., we help brands just like yours with everything from order fulfillment to inventory management. Contact us today to learn more about how the Smart Warehousing team can help your business thrive this holiday season.