With the holiday season right around the corner, sale season gets started and everyone has to shop. Stores, brands, and even shipping companies profit during November and December. Online and offline stores alike have to take into account a number of things to make sure they turn a profit, keep customers happy and that their staff is not overworked.The holiday season is also when parcels get lost in the vacuum, are delivered broken, or show up too late or too early.
If you are a store owner who sell things online, listen up, this one’s for you. There are a few measures that you can take to get a smooth working E commerce Holiday Plan. Let’s walk through some of them.
-
Focus on your products:
Since there is usually higher production around this time due to high demand, make sure to pay special attention to maintain the quality of the products. Whether you have an in-house production department or you outsource it, quality retention is important so that no one has to unwrap a broken gift.
Another thing to consider during this time is that you produce to match the demand. If not, you could face either a shortage of products or an abundance of it, neither of which are good for your company.
-
Tech maintenance:
High capacity websites also crash due to rush during sales. You can avoid this by maintaining your website before the holiday sale kicks in. Make sure to take special security measures for it as well so that your and your customers’ data is safe.
Keep all of your various software and hardware tech ready so that customers get the right inventory updates when they are looking for an item on the website. Make sure to update the store for discounts you are offering as well the coupons you are accepting.
-
Be mindful of packaging:
If you are shipping delicate items, pack them with newspapers for cushioning. You can then place these in boxes. You should also segregate packaging by the distance that the parcel has to travel. If it is local and your store is going to hand deliver it, then you can afford to have much lighter packaging. If the items aren’t delicate, you can go with less layers of packaging. Apart from this, try to get packaging in a range of sizes so that you don’t have to waste big boxes on small items.
While getting the product safely to your customers is important, it is equally important that you are not wasteful with packaging. You can also start a recycling program with your parcel service provider where they can pick up the cardboard packaging when they deliver the product.
-
Shipping partner:
If you have an in-house shipping department, then make sure to keep all elements contributing to it up to date. Put snow chains on vehicles that you use if you are in the snow region, carry out necessary maintenance in your packaging equipment, train more staff members to battle the rush, etc.
If you have a third party shipping solution, make sure you keep them updated with the business you are expecting so they can prepare accordingly. Make sure to go with a shipping partner that you trust to take care of your products and your customers. They will be people who will actually fulfil the last leg of your product cycle.
-
Delivery scheduling:
Delivery scheduling takes the convenience of home delivery and online stores to the next level. You can give this option to your customers by integrating a delivery date scheduler extension with your estore. This way the delivery will have less hurdles because the customer can arrange to receive it when they are available.
This feature can come especially handy in the holiday season when there are gifts to send. This can give some assurance to the sender that their loved ones will be available to receive their gift.
Additionally, when customers can schedule delivery at a certain time, it contributes to the efficiency of the courier service (as well as yours). There will be no moot visits, and therefore time and fuel do not go to waste.
Overall, there are plenty of measures you have to take for a good holiday season. Make sure you market your discounts well ahead for traffic to actually come to your store when the sale goes live. Enable the necessary tech enhancements for a smooth experience for when customers are already on the site.
About us
AppJetty is an apps and extensions company. We have extensions for Magento, Odoo, SuiteCRM, SugarCRM, and more. In connection with this blog, we have a Magento 2 delivery date scheduler that can help you prepare for an exciting holiday season. You can contact us here for any queries as to how it can benefit you.
Have a fruitful season!
All product and company names are trademarks™, registered® or copyright© trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.
