As Christmas rapidly approaches many retailers are preparing for their busiest ever online festive period. Shoppers are expected to spend £5 billion this Christmas online (IMRG), and with experts predicting that more shoppers than ever are opting to avoid the high street this year, multi-channel retailers are bracing themselves for the festive rush.

By December most retailers who have an online channel will already have spent months planning, forecasting and preparing and there should be 'light at the end of the tunnel' as far as the peak season is concerned. Yet it is often those last few weeks leading up to Christmas, and the period immediately after, that can be the most problematic and potentially cause the most damage if not well-managed. Even at this late stage there are certain things that can be done to help avoid a Christmas online turkey. Here are some tips to surviving Christmas and its immediate aftermath.

Get the parcels out the door. As Christmas Eve approaches, it is essential that you pull out all the stops to ensure that those final orders get delivered before the big day. This is when Express Delivery comes into its own, and it's worth being prepared to pay for couriers on Christmas Eve, rather than disappoint your customers and risk damaging your brand.

Ensure good carrier relationships. At this time of year it is more important than ever to have a really close relationship with your carriers. Constant communication to let them know of any forecasted volume changes or increased parcel movement will enable them to provide you with better support over the peak.

Regular communication. During the build up to Christmas, daily communication with your third-party supplier (or warehouse if doing your own fulfilment) is vital as all parties need to be fully aware of what the other is doing. For example, any additional promotional activities you are undertaking, such as PR, marketing or sales activities, can cause peaks and volumes in sales - by letting your fulfilment provider or warehouse know about theses activities in advance they can ramp up resources accordingly.

Ensure staffing agencies are prepared. Your warehouse or third-party supplier should brief agencies to have extra staff on standby during these final weeks, this will reduce the likelihood of under-staffing during the busiest periods.

Be prepared to pay overtime. Extended shifts and overtime may well be necessary during this period in order to cope with increased demand. Weekend workers and night shifts will help to keep on top of the peak, preventing orders from building up and ensuring good customer service.

Prepare for returns. Once Christmas day has passed you still can not afford to relax. Returns are notoriously high after the Christmas peak and increased staffing and space will be needed to manage them effectively. Call centres will also need additional staff to cope with the increased volume of enquiries that will flood in the New Year.

Use your channels effectively. After Christmas use the strengths of each channel to efficiently shift any left over stock. For example, old season stock can be pulled out for return to stores, you may decide to have a New Year online sale etceteras.

When this time of year hits, retailers often feel it is too late to affect their Christmas performance, but this is simply not the case. The few weeks prior to Christmas are often the most important and pivotal time in a retailer's calendar and it is essential that you are prepared for any last minute hiccups. Ultimately a retailer's performance over the Christmas period is one of the biggest factors in influencing customer loyalty; therefore it is crucial you get it right. But if you are still feeling under-prepared - fear not there is still time to save Christmas!

BIOS, Nov 10, 05 | Print | Send | Comments (0) | Posted In Internet