Preparing Your Business for Holiday Shipping & Deliveries

The holidays tend to creep up on us all. Blink — and the holiday shopping season is here! And while the seasonal rush usually provides a delightful boost for business, it can also bring a mad rush that impacts wholesalers and companies from other industries.

Finding a reliable and fast courier service is one of the best things you can do to prepare your business for holiday deliveries. A quality courier helps you fulfill the influx of orders — and that alone eliminates half the stress of the season. Discover how to prepare your business for holiday deliveries, including the advantages of working with a courier to provide your customers with reliable delivery services.

The Importance of Last-Minute Holiday Shipping for Businesses

More than 70% of Americans prefer doing holiday shopping online. And while most consumers start Christmas gift shopping before and at the beginning of December, others will leave it until the week before and even on Christmas Eve. This means your distribution department might feel an extra strain during the holiday season.

Several key points highlight the importance of last-minute holiday deliveries:

Customer demand for timelines: Customers expect quick turnaround times for their orders during the holiday season. This is especially true for B2B transactions where businesses rely on timely deliveries to maintain operations and meet customer needs.
Increased shipping volumes: Holiday seasons see a significant uptick in shipping volumes across all sectors. This surge can strain logistics and affect delivery schedules. Last-minute orders can exacerbate existing challenges in the supply chain, leading to potential delays and shortages if not properly managed.
Potential for delays: Bottlenecks can occur due to increased traffic, weather conditions and labor shortages.
Responsiveness to unforeseen circumstances: Events such as unexpected demand spikes or supply chain disruptions make last-minute shipping capabilities vital for maintaining continuity in operations.
Financial implications: Last-minute deliveries can influence a company’s bottom line. The costs associated with delays may exceed the costs of expedited shipping options due to lost sales and customer goodwill.

Industries That Benefit From Timely Shipping

Busy seasons affect various industries that use delivery and courier services:

Automotive: The automotive industry relies on a complex supply chain with numerous components sourced from various suppliers. Increased delivery demand can disrupt production schedules if critical parts are delayed. Automotive wholesalers need to ensure timely delivery of parts and accessories for repairs and maintenance, especially in winter weather conditions.
Construction: The holiday season can see a slowdown in construction activities. However, last-minute deliveries of essential materials and tools can help complete projects or stages before the end of the year.
Defense: The defense industry requires timely shipments of equipment, supplies and confidential information to meet national security needs. This sector is subject to stringent regulations and documentation requirements, which means shipping delays can lead to penalties or contract breaches.
Health care: Last-minute procurement of medical supplies, equipment and pharmaceuticals can be lifesaving, especially during flu season or other health emergencies during the holidays. Hospitals and clinics must maintain adequate inventory levels, and last-minute deliveries can help them restock critical items quickly. Delays with these orders can disrupt patient care.
Legal: Legal firms often deal with time-sensitive documents that must be delivered promptly to meet court deadlines. Timely deliveries ensure compliance with legal timelines, especially in jurisdictions that require physical submissions. Delays can lead to dissatisfaction or lost cases.
Manufacturing: Manufacturers often rely on just-in-time inventory systems. Delays in raw material deliveries can halt production lines and affect output. However, effective last-minute delivery strategies can help manage inventory levels and meet urgent customer orders, especially during peak seasons when demand spikes.

Chances are, your warehouse or wholesale chain services some aspect of these industries — and these clients rely on you to satisfy the end user, even during the holiday rush.

Even though last-minute orders can be tricky to manage, it’s a crucial part of business. Handling the logistics of holiday shipping also benefits your company in several ways:

Offering last-minute holiday delivery services is essential to customer satisfaction. Strong logistics around holidays help you get orders out to customers on time and give them time to make returns if necessary.
Providing reliable last-minute shipments can lead to repeat business and a boost in sales.
You can incorporate some strategies you implement for last-minute orders year-round to improve overall logistics.
Your company can save money by having a good last-minute delivery plan in place. You can plan for the extra costs of a courier and consider cost-saving options like bulk ordering and deliveries, helping you avoid seasonal price hikes and other unforeseen costs.
Businesses that offer reliable last-minute delivery options gain a competitive edge. Being able to fulfill urgent requests can position a company as a preferred supplier.

Plan Now!

Planning is the foundation of getting your company ready for the holidays. Naturally, you must adjust your logistics to accommodate the busiest time of year. Consider these changes to logistics and deliveries when you plan:

Extra supplies: The spike in orders affects every part of logistics — especially how much more inventory and packaging supplies you need.
The need for additional staff in the warehouse: Putting out your hiring ad early will help you account for the time the interview and hiring processes take.
Foreseeing delays: Reflecting on previous busy times can help you pinpoint the causes of potential delays and brainstorm ways to prevent or work around setbacks.
Longer wait times: Planning helps determine your wait times with the new demand. That way, you can create related policies early enough and communicate them with your customers.

Prepare Your Warehouse or Wholesale Chain

Reliable wholesalers and providers prepare for the holiday rush well in advance by implementing key strategies that keep the supply chain moving. These practical methods can help your company get ready for the higher holiday demand, too:

Prepare Inventory and Packaging

One of the most vital aspects to cover for the holidays is having sufficient inventory to match the increase in demand. Ensuring you have sufficient resources for packaging all your orders is just as vital! Stock up on everything you need, including enough boxes, waybill sheets, package liners, stickers, tape and other essentials.

Incorporate Technology for Inventory and Tracking

Making your supply chain as smooth as possible is one of your top priorities. An effective way of making operations more efficient is automating tasks. For example, you can automate transactional messages, including emails or texts, to be delivered when a customer places or changes an order, when their order is shipped, when it’s in transit and when it arrives.

Train and Prepare Staff

To manage the heightened demand during the holiday season, you must proactively scale your workforce and resources:

Early workforce planning: Begin the seasonal workforce planning process well before the holiday rush. This includes onboarding temporary workers, which will help avoid last-minute chaos in warehouse operations.
Flexible staffing options: Consider various staffing strategies, such as part-time shifts to easily scale your workforce up or down as needed. This flexibility helps optimize labor costs while maintaining service-level agreements.
Comprehensive training programs: Invest in training for warehouse staff to ensure they can handle the increased workload efficiently. Training programs will help prevent negative repercussions like fulfillment glitches, inventory management issues and high employee turnover rates. Cross-training employees across different fulfillment areas can also enhance workforce flexibility.
Monitoring staff performance: Use performance metrics to track staff productivity and order accuracy to help identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement.

Brainstorm Last-Minute Strategies

A good last-minute strategy can mean the difference between a successful holiday season and a stressful one! Your last-minute strategies can include the following:

Disaster preparedness: Consider what you will do during emergencies, like being short-staffed or dealing with delays due to extreme weather.
Legal and compliance considerations: Have a plan to fulfill orders with legal requirements. Some products cannot be obtained or shipped during specific times for legal reasons.
Returns management process: Brainstorm how you will manage your return policies during the holidays. Will you alter your returns and cancellations policies during the holidays? Consider how you will develop your returns process during the season and communicate your plan to your customers.
Setting cutoff dates: Implement clear cutoff dates for the holiday season to help you stay on top of orders. A cutoff date is a simple but effective way to manage holiday shipments.

How Couriers Can Help With Holiday Deliveries

Though holidays place additional demand on logistics all around, there is hope! Partnering with a reliable courier is one of the best ways to manage holiday shipments. Take a look at some of the benefits of partnering with a courier for your holiday deliveries:

A courier gives you more time to focus on pre-shipment operations.
When you work with a quality courier, you get the advantage of working with certified drivers who can deliver special goods.
The easiest way to meet your holiday shipment deadlines is by working with a courier who can provide same-day and final-mile delivery services.
By outsourcing deliveries, you enjoy more workforce without hiring new staff.
A courier can offer you multiple delivery options to suit your needs.
Working with a courier improves the speed and quality of your deliveries.
Couriers help you manage order tracking.
Working with a courier can boost customer satisfaction, as they receive timely deliveries.

B2B Holiday Shipment Tips

Keeping track of all your last-minute essentials can quickly become a tricky task during the rush of the holiday season. Follow this list of last-minute holiday shipment tips to keep everything organized:

Mark your calendar with key dates, including Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas and Boxing Day.
Meet carrier deadlines and communicate with customers about potential delays.
Extend deliveries for last-minute local deliveries.
Hire temp workers to scale up your team.
Outsource delivery services and fulfillment.
Schedule pickups timeously.
And always give yourself enough time!

Custom and Timely Delivery Solutions With ExpressIt Delivery

Are you ready to shift into gear for holiday shipments? Enjoy timeous courier services from ExpressIt Delivery! We are a women-led company that has served our clients with B2B delivery needs for over 38 years. We know your business is not one-size-fits-all, so our helpful team of professionals is here to customize your delivery options during the holiday craze.

We offer premium services, including same-day, on-demand and next-day delivery. We also provide warehousing options and will keep you in the loop throughout the process. Contact ExpressIt Delivery for a quote, or sign up for our client portal today.