As the holiday season quickly approaches, the uptick in shipping for anything and everything will continue to increase throughout October, November, and December. With the influx of e-commerce products being purchased, backlogs and delays in shipping can be commonplace. If you’ve waited in long lines at the post office or airport during the holiday season, you know how frustrating this can be. 

To avoid unhappy customers waiting weeks or months for purchases, it’s essential to plan and prepare accordingly for product fulfillment during the busiest season. Learn more about the five tips we recommend to ensure on-time shipping for your products this holiday season. 

1. Start Early

The best way to satisfy your customers and potential customers with on-time shipping and delivery of their parcels is to start your promotions early and get ahead of the rush. By running your marketing campaigns and promotions earlier, you give yourself and a fulfillment provider extra time to get products from point A to point B, ensuring your customers get their belongings before the holidays. 

Peak season generally runs from October through January, so we recommend kicking off holiday sales before the Black Friday madness. 

2. Check on Your Supply Chain

Before the busy season picks up, check in on your supply chain to make sure you’ll get your products in when you need them and can deliver orders quickly to customers. If your supply chain isn’t operating properly, issues will quickly arise as orders pour in. It’s essential to have an order fulfillment process that is as efficient as possible to support your business. 

The last thing you want to do is leave orders on the table because you don’t have the products or materials for shipping them. If your supply chain is negatively affected currently, explore other options and shipping strategies for ensuring your customers get the products they want this season. 

3. Evaluate Your Third-Party Integrations

Take a look at your third-party integrations and assess how they are performing. Are your integrations up to date and operating in a way that makes your logistics process more seamless and streamlined? If not, find a system or partner that better supports your load. 

At BR Williams, we offer more than 70 pre-built integrations to different shopping carts, marketplaces, and ERP systems; you don’t have to be limited to what you are doing today. With scalability in mind, our integrations are designed to support businesses of all sizes over the long term. 

4. Be Transparent and Manage Expectations

It’s essential to set expectations with your customers and communicate clearly, so there are no surprises on their end of things during shipping time. Be transparent with shipping timelines and any delays that may occur. Your customers want to know their products are safe and on their way. With a clean communication process, you can keep them in the loop and tell them what to expect. 

But if you’re not telling them anything, frustration will mount, and bad reviews may be the result. 

5. Hire a Reliable Fulfillment Service Provider

To ensure your products get to where they need, partner with a reliable fulfillment service provider who can handle the logistics for you – like BR Williams. As you look into potential partners, evaluate their fulfillment operations and on-time freight management. 

While the cost of services is important to consider, make sure you’re looking into all aspects of potential partners beyond just their sticker price, including their delivery time, on-time trucking & logistics, a suite of services, online reviews, locations, and more. 

Need Assistance with Your Holiday Shipments?

If packaging, picking, and shipping orders are a bottleneck in your business, Outsourcing fulfillment logistics could solve your problems. BR Williams is here to help support your e-commerce product fulfillment needs and offer exceptional service for your company. 

Contact our team today about working with us, or learn more about our fulfillment services here

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