The Logistics of a Successful Black Friday

noviembre 24, 2023

Looking for Black Friday deals?

Inflation hasn´t slowed down Black Friday, at all. Last year’s sales, retail embraced for an expected dip due to inflation according to Forbes, yet online sales were up to 2.3% compared to last year. The holiday weekend rounded up $9.12 billion spent.

As every year, Black Friday is the Friday right after Thanksgiving. New trends due to supply chain disruptions have come to stay, where many businesses have changed Black Friday sales from a one-day event launch to early sales and discounts leading to the official day. This way fulfillment can keep up with demand and distribute to the upcoming date.

As more shopping platforms like mobile and app shopping have increased in popularity, the need for omnichannel fulfillment also grows.

Contrary to the height of the pandemic in 2021, where consumers were willing to pay more for goods during peak season for fear that retailers would run out of inventory, consumers in 2022 were well aware of the inventory overstock and decided to hold on to their wallets while waiting for the latest and greatest deals.

Yet, Black Friday is just the beginning. ¨Cyber week runs from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. That is five full days of intense consumer spending year-over-year where ¨shop till you drop ¨ is the motto. In 2022, Cyber Week accounted for nearly $36 billion in online spending, with Black Friday raking in nearly $9 billion and Cyber Monday netting more than $10 billion online.

Considering 2022 saw roughly $1.03 trillion in total online spending for the whole year, it’s especially impressive that only five days out of 365 were responsible for nearly 4% of the total yearly spending.¨

Last year, long lines were avoided by pick up their online orders via BOPIS, Buy Online Pickup In Store option.

Here are our suggestions for a successful Black Friday Logistics:

1. Prep Year-Round

The ideal time to begin planning and brainstorming for Black Friday is during the summer, be it July or August. This includes determining which merchandise will be part of your sales forecasting inventory volumes and creating long-term relationships. Monitor inventory and demand year-round, data is your best friend for your decision-making process and campaign proposal. As end result, you can provide the best offer for your store that will leverage your brand´s uniqueness and a competitive offer will help you stand out in the market along with retaining happy (new and old) customers.

2. Have more than one Backup Plan and Strategy

With the highest volume of sales coming in, it´s important to understand that the volume of issues may escalate also. Identifying and analyzing the most frequent and potential problems during your busiest season will avoid putting you at risk your revenue.

Ideally, arranging a 24-hour trial sale will enhance your perspective on what an error-less procedure should be like.

3. Strengthen Customer Loyalty

The reality is up to 70% of customers may not return to your brand after their purchase but creating a personal experience for customers can transform a one-time purchase into frequent shopping.

One way to start is to kit your fulfillment. Kitting is adding other elements to your client´s purchase such as:

Thank you notes for a personalized unboxing experience
Additional discount flyers to ensure future purchases
Gifts!

4. Don´t lose sight of Last Mile’s needs and costs

What exactly is the “last mile”?

According to Insider Intelligence, last-mile delivery is the final phase of the delivery process. In a product’s journey, it is moved from the warehouse shelf (often at a distribution center), to the back of a truck, to the customer’s doorstep—the final step of this process, known as the last-mile of delivery. High shipping costs are often associated with last-mile delivery. This is what it looks like:

If you´re looking to optimize your last-mile costs with volume consolidation and rate shop automation, exploring teaming up with a fulfillment partner to reach a new record bottom-line!

5. Escalate with the Right Partner

¨In June 2023, an annual peak season survey of more than 150 supply chain leaders from retailers, wholesalers, and 3PL/4PL firms explored preparations and predictions for the 2023 peak season.¨ (Supply Chain Dive) Here´s a comparison. to last year´s expectations to this year´s and the need for a 3PL partnership recognized by executives!