How do you manage peak delivery periods?

With Christmas now well and truly behind us, retailers have published their trading figures for the festive period, analysts have pored over the results, and the winners and losers and have been declared. The biggest annual retail peak is behind us, so the retail sector can relax for another year. Or can it?

According to Verdict Retail, Britain will spend around £980 million for Valentine’s Day this year, while Tesco estimates that it sells more than one million bouquets of flowers for Valentine’s Day each year.

And it’s not all about that last minute gift in the convenience store on the way home. Guy Mucklow, Chief Executive of Postcode Anywhere, explained that the Valentine’s Day peak is now only eclipsed by Christmas and Easter and has firmly established itself as one of the biggest retailing events of the year. “Traffic for ecommerce retailers specialising in Valentine-related gifts peaks on February 13. Online sales in the US and UK have continued to rise considerably year-on-year in the run-up to Valentine’s Day.”

Verdict Retail’s research suggests that last year £313 million was spent on food and drink, £518 million on gifts, and £135 million on seasonal non-food items such as cards and wrapping paper. In fact, e-valentine purchases helped boost some categories last year according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. Internet sales of gifts went up by 28% and alcohol sales grew by 42% after the traditionally dry month of January.

For many retailers, Valentine’s Day can help boost first quarter sales, but with so many orders being concentrated in a short period of time, retailers once again need to flex up their delivery services to manage the delivery peak and avoid disgruntled customers.

Whether Valentine’s Day, Mothering Sunday or Easter is your next biggest peak after Christmas, the same headaches arise. Here are a few things to consider next time you’re planning for your delivery peak:

• Clearly communicate your delivery process at the point of purchase. A choice of delivery options can increase sales and allows you to set expectations that your omnichannel fulfilment team can deliver on.
• Only promise what you can deliver. If you can only make 2,000 deliveries a day then ensure this daily limit is set in your systems accordingly. Delivery windows are then marked as unavailable and customers choose the next available slot.
• Make use of alternative delivery channels. The convenience of click and collect – or reserve and collect – has increased in popularity. By encouraging shoppers to collect their own goods, you will reduce the pressure on delivery services.
• Allow the customer to choose their own time window. Using an omnichannel fulfilment system that offers time windows at the point of purchase, and allows customers to change their delivery up until the day of delivery, puts the customer in control and increases the chance of first time delivery success.
• Continuously optimise your deliveries so that your resources are maximised. By using a routing and scheduling system that continuously updates routes, you can be sure that the delivery windows offered to the customer make the best use of your drivers and vehicles.
• Use automated customer notifications. Emails and texts throughout the order lifecycle will reduce the volume of inbound calls to your customer services team and increase the confidence the customer has in your delivery service.

Do you need to take control of your peak? Get in touch with us to talk to a member of our experienced team. Or better still visit our Technology Centre to see Paragon HDX.