1

Click here to load reader

Last-Minute Holiday Shipping Checklist

Embed Size (px)

DESCRIPTION

Are you Ready? After last year’s abysmal performance, the 28-day, 2014 holiday season will make or break consumer confidence in online order fulfillment. Here’s a last-minute checklist to help avoid shipping snafus that could damage customer loyalty.

Citation preview

Page 1: Last-Minute Holiday Shipping Checklist

Last-Minute Holiday Shipping Checklist

Communicate Transparently with Your Carrier(s)Proactively communicate with your carrier(s) early and often with as much transparency about sales projections as possible. Based on your projections, your carrier(s) can help you determine if there’s a need for a new operations plan.

Massage Your Multi-Carrier PlanA multi-carrier agreements strategy is a best-practice that was reinforced by the delays in 2013. Make sure you understand all of your carriers’ calendars and guarantees and continually ask yourself what you can do to make your shipper(s) more effective. For example, can you operate over the weekends during the holidays so that you don’t bombard your shipper(s) with packages on Monday?

Synchronize Marketing and OperationsThe best, most creative promotions fall flat if operations can’t deliver on the promises made. Double check the communication between marketing and operations to ensure that the impact of your most current promotions calendar is distributed and doable. Remember that both UPS® and Fedex® service guarantees exclude those picked up during the fourteen calendar days prior to December 25.

Talk to Your CustomersJoin your carrier(s) in encouraging customers to buy now and ship as early as possible during the holidays. Analyze your subsidized shipping program year-over-year to determine problematic dates. Is there a more effective timeline that can be implemented to help you avoid snags? Advise your ecommerce team with messaging to help set customer expectations.

Prepare for Calls Recent research by the CFI Group shows that customers are 26 percent more likely to reach out to retailers during the holidays and more than half by phone. Provide customers with self-service tracking information to reduce these calls and be prepared to hear from the most anxious shoppers by ramping up your call center and live chat to ensure a positive customer experience.

Map Out a Returns ProcessReturning a product doesn’t have to be a negative customer experience. Work with your in-store operations team and carrier(s) to map out a seamless, easy returns process that will keep your customers coming back. Omnichannel retailers can benefit from accepting in-store returns in addition to taking advantage of your carrier’s services and technology to make returns by mail a painless process.

Plan a Post-Holiday AuditThe busiest buying season certainly warrants close inspection. Start planning now for a post-holiday audit to determine how each component of your supply chain performed— from suppliers to carriers to distribution centers.

Learn more at: www.birddog.com/holidayshipping

Are you Ready?Online retail revenue and last-minute orders were up last holiday season. Combine that kind of volume with a short season riddled with bad weather and it’s little wonder shippers and carriers couldn’t keep up.

+45% Increase in lastminute holiday orders from 2012to 20131

Increase in online

retail revenue

from 2012 to 2013

holiday seasons1+13%

1/3 of large retailersfailed to deliver at leastsome shipments in timefor Christmas2

After last year’s abysmal performance, the 28-day, 2014 holiday season will make or break consumer confidence in online order fulfillment. Here’s a last-minute checklist to help avoid shipping snafus that could damage customer loyalty.

of online retailers expect sales growththis holiday season3

86%

of consumers say

late delivery will

cause them to look

elsewhere446%

of customer calls during the holiday season are shipping- and delivery-related5

42%

of online shoppers

will look at the

returns policy before

making a purchase6 66%

1According to Custora e-commerce Pulse 22013 Holiday Insights Study, conducted by StellaService in partnership with Kurt Salmon 3 ChannelAdvisor Corporation’s Multichannel E-Commerce Study 4Integrated Solutions for Retailers Holiday Fulfillment 2014, Sponsored By eBay Enterprise 5CFI Group 6UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper 2014

© 2014 BirdDog Solutions, Inc., all rights reserved. The BirdDog logo and BirdDog Solutions are registered trademarks of BirdDog Solutions, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Number of days

in the 2013 holiday

season vs. 28 in 201426