Efficient logistics are vital to holiday success for SMBs. But even a seemingly optimized operational system could have pitfalls, from delayed transit times and high damage rates to capacity bottlenecks and inefficient warehouse operations.
A thorough post-holiday review provides vital insights into any inefficiencies in your shipping, logistics, and fulfillment processes. It allows you to make essential software improvements ready to handle your next peak season.
In this post, we’ll show you how our business analysts conduct impactful logistics reviews and how you can use data insights and customer feedback to streamline your fulfillment to set realistic sales targets for next year.
Analyze Shipping Performance
Your customers expect speedy shipping. Thanks to the growth in flash delivery, more than 90% of customers see 2-3-day delivery as standard, and 30% expect same-day delivery.
Analyze your shipping data to assess whether you achieved on-time delivery rates by carrier and region. Were there any unforeseen delays or significant exceptions? For example, a bad storm might have significantly delayed shipping in a specific region, but that’s not something you can control.
You should also look into your damage/loss claims and see if there are trends with specific delivery providers or regions.
If you spot any inefficiencies in your shipping performance, you may need to look for a more reliable delivery partner or explore methods for faster fulfillment times.
An optimized order inventory management system is the easiest way to achieve faster shipping times. By accurately tracking inventory levels, you can avoid stock-outs, shipping delays, and misplaced items.
Evaluate Warehouse Operations
Your warehouse has many moving parts, so it’s essential to have a streamlined system in place for maximum efficiency during busy holiday periods.
Look into order processing and packing insights – did you hit your targets for the season? Did you experience any throughput or capacity restraints that hindered sales?
When working with clients, we often find software and equipment issues at the heart of warehouse failures. If you use any manual processes or have system gaps, you’re at risk of experiencing bottlenecks and inaccuracies.
Assess Carrier and Vendor Management
Make a complete list of all the carriers and vendors you partnered with over the holidays. Were service level agreements met, or were there issues meeting your surge capacity?
Each system you use for shipping, logistics, and fulfillment needs to grow with your business and be capable of handling holiday surges. If you experienced constraints this season, consider alternatives that are better able to provide the level of service you need to meet next year’s sales targets.
Review Post-Purchase Customer Experience
Organizations that provide a positive customer experience, especially during busy seasons, boost loyalty, reduce churn, and increase word-of-mouth referrals.
Now that the holiday season is behind us, survey your customers for feedback on delivery issues – were there significant delays, damage, or losses?
If you struggle to get enough meaningful feedback, you can also look at your returns, refunds, and reshipping insights data. Returns, in particular, should show whether there were issues with your product, delivery service, or something else entirely.
Finally, if you don’t have enough insight into your customer experience (CX), a priority for your technology roadmap should be enhanced tracking tools. Customer experience management (CEM) software will help you improve CX at every stage of the customer journey, helping to boost brand loyalty and lifetime sales value.
Takeaways and Action Planning
When you have all of your shipping, logistics, and fulfillment data, you can summarize it into your key findings and lessons learned. These are important metrics to take to management and help inform your forecasting and marketing strategy for next season.
To create a meaningful summary out of your post-holiday recap, answer the following questions:
- What were the major pain points in the operations system?
- Which processes are in definite need of upgrading/improving?
- Which systems worked well and don’t need to be changed?
- What success can you replicate next season?
Take all of your findings and plan your fulfillment goals for next season. With this information, you should be able to set exciting but realistic goals that help your business reach the next level of success.
Get Expert Help Assessing Your Fulfillment System
Streamlining logistics and removing gaps in your system is crucial for long-term growth. Without a smooth, connected fulfillment process, you’ll consistently suffer from shipping delays, inventory inaccuracies, and unhappy customers.
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