6 Ways Companies Can Ready Their Supply Chains for the Holidays
Parcel Magazine
Transportation Management, Supply Chain
Dan Clark – November 1, 2018
Analysts at Deloitte project that the 2018 holiday shopping season will see a 5.0% to 5.6% year-over-year increase in retail sales, with total sales projected to rise over $1.1 trillion. E-commerce sales are forecast to rise to between $124 billion and $134 billion, a 17% to 22% year-over-year jump.
Because of the rise in the number of e-commerce orders during the holiday season, there is, not surprisingly, a big increase in transportation requirements for everything from last-mile packages delivered to a consumer’s home to inbound shipments coming into a distribution center. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and numerous holiday promotions all add to the huge spike in demand. Shippers need to keep operations flowing and use tools to handle the upsurge while keeping customers satisfied.
Here are six top tips to optimize your transportation strategies for the holidays, and if you can’t implement them all in 2018, just remember that it always pays to get a head start on preparing for next year’s peak season!
