The Holidays. For those in the ecommerce trade, they are anything but holidays. Because for them, the holidays aren’t about snuggling up by a fire, but about spending long hours putting out fires, so to speak.
The numbers are in for 2020’s Cyber Monday, which just raked-in a record $10.84 billion in e-commerce sales for U.S. retailers (a 15.1% increase in YOY growth from 2019), according to Adobe Analytics data. That broke the record for e-commerce sales from just three days before when Black Friday hit its biggest ever numbers for online sales of $9 billion, a 22% increase over 2019.
That means that fulfillment systems everywhere are going to be running at full throttle through the end of 2020.
It also means that a lot of ecommerce retailers will likely become firefighters, heads down, jumping from holiday fulfillment issue to holiday fulfillment issue for relentlessly long days until the pressure subsides sometime in January.
This annual peak season make or break push can be the key to a company’s success in any given year, but it can also translate into a lost opportunity for many retailers:
In the manic chaos of proverbial firefighting, maintaining perspective is difficult. There is little to no time for reflection. And the ensuing exhaustion that follows can leave few resources for recollection.
So when January rolls around and retailers take-in the horizon for the first time in months, the critical details they need to properly assess their holiday season will often end up buried in the ashes of burnout.
So how do you make it through fire-fighting season and still have the details you need to kick start your 2021 strategic initiatives? Simple…
Make Your 2021 Holiday Wish List
When you’re putting out fires so fast that they tend to merge into one November-to-January haze, it’s a helpful practice to take five minutes at the end of each day to jot down any fulfillment system failures or shortcomings you may have encountered.
By cataloguing the challenges — large or small — that you might otherwise forget, you’ll have a complete picture of the areas in your fulfillment operation that need attention when the new year comes around.
You won’t have to try to piece together foggy memories. And you’ll get a jump start on your 2021 strategic initiatives. All from just five minutes a day. Think of it as your peak season list for 2021.
Then, when the new year roles around, make it a point to find the solutions you need to make you life easier and your business more profitable.
Here’s to your success this holiday fulfillment season!
If we can be of any assistance when the smoke clears, please let us know.
Walter High is VP Marketing at MSI Automate, where he has worked since 2012.