What the success of Prime Day means for your supply chain.

Prime Day comes at a time of year that has been traditionally slow for the supply chain industry. There aren’t any major holidays, and back-to-school hasn’t quite started. However, the popularity of the event, coupled with the capacity crisis and driver shortage, are causing roadblocks for some retailers who haven’t already optimized their supply chains. Diesel fuel, used in trucks, is about 45 percent more expensive this Prime Day than last year’s, while jet-fuel prices are up more than 50 percent from a year ago, according to data from S&P Global Platts. Gasoline prices about 30 percent higher than the same point last year, AAA says.

The hugely popular Amazon Prime day started in 2015 to celebrate the Seattle-based e-tail giant’s 20th anniversary by offering sitewide discounts to Prime Members. This year, Prime “Day” was actually 36 hours: July 16-17. Amazon doesn’t give out the exact amount that they made on Prime Day but according to Bloomberg they estimated $1 billion in sales. When comparing 36-hour periods, sales exceeded last year’s Prime Day by 60 percent. 

Although Prime Day was an event created by Amazon, competitors like Target held a special one-day sale, offering discounts on home furnishings, cookware, toys and Googleproducts. Target said that 90 percent of the orders placed online will now be fulfilled from its stores, as the company has been working to bulk up its supply chain and get items to customers more quickly. 

In order to keep up with increased order volume and inventory turns, shippers are turning to technology to improve their processes and speed up delivery. This can be done by using a TMS with supply chain technology and real-time, predictive analytics, with artificial intelligence. 

Data from those technologies provides you with shipping intelligence to guide decisions which can considerably reduce your shipping costs.Companies need to take advantage of 3PLs like CargoBarn to improve visibility for better customer service and more effective operations. Prime Day along with other retailers who choose to partake on these e-commerce flash sales will continue impacting the supply chain in the years to come. CargoBarn is braced for “Christmas In July” – are you?