{"id":1442,"date":"2021-09-29T09:58:46","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T14:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/uk\/holiday-logistics\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T15:36:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T15:36:47","slug":"holiday-logistics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/uk\/holiday-logistics\/","title":{"rendered":"Holiday Logistics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Holiday Logistics Guide<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Preparing for the holiday shipping season requires a logistics strategy that enables fast, consistent, and reliable delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But keeping up with a high-volume of orders during the holiday shopping season can be challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, you don\u2019t have to tackle the holidays alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To meet customer demand during the busiest retail season of the year, ShipBob can help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ShipBob is a best-in-class 3PL that can help you prepare for the holiday season. You can store inventory with ShipBob, choose what fulfilment locations to use, and have customers orders picked, packed, and shipped quickly and affordably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn how ShipBob has partnered with online brands in a wide range of industries to prepare for the busiest season of the year.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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What is holiday logistics?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Holiday logistics involves an efficient supply chain process that can take on a high volume of orders<\/a>. Without a proper holidays logistics strategy, it\u2019s a challenge to accurately pick, pack and ship orders quickly and on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparing an online store for the holiday peak season<\/a> takes extra preparation. That\u2019s why many online brands partner with a 3PL<\/a> like ShipBob who can enable fast holiday fulfilment<\/a>, allowing brands to focus on other initiatives such as holiday marketing and promotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Impact of the holidays on logistics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Come Black Friday and Cyber Monday, if your business isn\u2019t ready for an influx of website traffic, orders, customers, and even returns, the holidays can become a stressful time \u2014 and may even cause your business to lose money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the ongoing pandemic, US retailers will face an additional $223 billion<\/a> in costs this holiday season due to global supply chain issues. Fortunately, sales continue to rise, but the supply chain has become more complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ShipBob takes on holidays logistics on your behalf. That way, you can prepare your site for an influx of online shoppers, plan marketing and holiday promotions, and ensure that your customer service team is prepared to handle more inquiries, as well as ecommerce returns<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 tips for holiday logistics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Black Friday through Christmas Eve is the time of year when the majority of ecommerce brands experience the biggest surge in orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some tips on how to optimise logistics for the holiday season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Forecast demand<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By forecasting demand<\/a>, you can optimise stock levels by tracking fast-selling vs. slow-moving items and make better decisions on how much of each SKU to reorder and when.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To better forecast inventory<\/a> needs, look at historical data, think through planned promotions, and decide how you will handle massive influxes in demand.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Prepare inventory levels<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By understanding production lead times, you lower the risk of stockouts<\/a>, backorders<\/a>, and running promotions on out-of-stock items.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To ensure you have enough inventory to meet demand, be sure to work closely with your manufacturer or supplier by sharing predicted Q4 order volume ahead of time to avoid potential stockouts during the holiday season. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work in longer than normal lead times, due to not only Q4 demand, but port delays and other supply chain issues. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Distribute inventory for faster delivery<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By storing inventory in multiple locations, you can lower shipping costs and increase conversions by offering free shipping<\/a> thresholds and 2-day shipping<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you partner with a 3PL like ShipBob, you already have access to multiple fulfilment centre<\/a> locations to optimise shipping costs and reduce transit times.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ShipBob also provides data and analytics reporting tools<\/a> to help you understand which regions (and countries) can optimise your strategy. That way, you can identify your brand\u2019s ideal product allocation<\/a> strategy. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Distributed inventory enables you to offer competitive shipping options, such as 2-day or free shipping with a minimum spend threshold that\u2019s above your average order value (AOV)<\/a> can increase AOV and decrease cart abandonment<\/a> by <\/span>18%<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Know holiday delivery deadlines<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Especially after last year, it\u2019s important to plan for and track carrier transit times (example <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>) and communicate potential delays to your customers. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, be sure you offer your customers order tracking<\/a>, so they can track orders in real time.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Prepare your returns management process<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Having a proper returns management<\/a> strategy in place can improve brand loyalty and maintain sales by making the returns process as simple as possible for the customer.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A great returns experience can also encourage your customers to make an exchange, so you don\u2019t lose out on a sale.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be sure to review your returns and exchange policy in place, and ensure that is easy to understand and accessible on your online store or product listings.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secure a 3PL partner<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fulfilling holiday demand on your own is very challenging and leasing your own warehouse is expensive and time-consuming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sooner you get started, the easier it will be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re in a time crunch to get started with a 3PL, ShipBob can help you get onboarded fast so you\u2019re prepared for the busy holiday season. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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