Introduction

During holidays, businesses experience a mix of joy and worry. They're happy about the surge in sales, but concerned about the strain on logistics and delivery. For example, during the recent Christmas season, people make large-scale purchases, such as Christmas decorations for their homes and gifts to exchange with family and friends. Everyone hopes to receive a Christmas present hidden in a stocking by Santa Claus, which is one of the sources of joy on Christmas Day. Therefore, during such holidays, people have higher expectations for the timeliness of express delivery services. Furthermore, given people's immense anticipation for Christmas, if goods purchased from a store are not delivered on time, they will absolutely not return. This poses a significant challenge to businesses, as the success of this year's logistics and delivery not only affects this year's profits but also their operations in the coming year.

Logistics challenges during the Christmas peak season

We already know the significant impact of logistics and delivery quality on merchants during the Christmas season. So how can we ensure the stability of logistics and delivery during the holiday period? Before discussing countermeasures, we must first clarify the problems we will face. Only then can we address them effectively:

• Demand and sales surged

E-commerce sales skyrocketed, with Black Friday sales more than tripling compared to normal days—a peak season no year sees as intense as the fall pre-Christmas sales season. This placed immense pressure on logistics and delivery. Increased order volume led to rising logistics costs, empty warehouses, and carriers were overwhelmed as everyone shipped simultaneously. They added surcharges and refused up to 25% of contracted freight, exacerbated by a shortage of truck drivers. Freight companies' available capacity dwindled, easily leading to delivery delays and product shortages.

• Logistics staff shortages

Retailers are facing increasing pressure due to the global logistics crisis, and in most cases, full-time staff alone cannot handle the extra workload. Temporary staff are needed to provide support during the Christmas season. Staff shortages are also impacting them, leading to soaring costs. Hiring temporary workers, paying overtime, and dealing with rising shipping costs all erode profits. Labor shortages are a top concern for over 60% of supply chain leaders.

• Tight delivery deadlines

Customers' anticipation for holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving is unacceptable; delays in receiving gifts or supplies directly impact the festive atmosphere. Therefore, the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is extremely tight, allowing no room for error. This is because 69% of consumers who experience delayed delivery will not repurchase products from that brand.

• Increased error rate

As order volumes grow and the need to maintain normal delivery speeds increases, stress-related errors are likely to occur more frequently. On the one hand, this increases logistics costs; on the other hand, if customers suffer losses as a result, it can lead to decreased customer satisfaction.

What can STONE3PL do?

For some retailers and e-commerce businesses, partnering with third-party logistics (3PL) fulfillment service providers (LPLs) during peak seasons is an effective way to alleviate logistical pressure. However, some LPLs may also experience insufficient available capacity. Therefore, it's crucial to be extra cautious when selecting LPLs, carefully choosing those with outstanding professional capabilities and extensive logistics experience. As a company within the Stone Group, STONE3PL is a leading global provider of digital intelligent logistics services, dedicated to creating exceptional experiences for cross-border businesses of all sizes. STONE3PL partners with globally renowned logistics providers to offer diversified industrial cross-border logistics solutions that meet the diverse needs of its clients. STONE3PL's services cover e-commerce parcels, light and high-volume cargo transportation, providing fast delivery times and real-time cargo tracking at affordable prices.

Warehousing and Logistics:

STONE3PL provides comprehensive warehousing and logistics services to large, medium, and small e-commerce businesses and crowdsourcing projects worldwide. Mature warehousing operation processes and an advanced warehouse management system ensure that inventory management, quality inspection, and order delivery accuracy are significantly higher than the industry average. Free APIs and plugins allow for seamless access and shipping, and provide one-stop real-time logistics tracking.

Express Delivery: 

In express delivery, STONE3PL has long-standing partnerships with China Post and many international express companies to meet customers' diverse needs for timely delivery and customs clearance. These companies offer a wide range of services and boast rapid customs clearance and high efficiency. They are also capable of transporting high-value, time-sensitive goods. Mailing categories include general merchandise, products with built-in batteries, and branded goods; some routes offer tax services.

Value-added services:

In addition, STONE3PL offers a variety of value-added services, including assembly, labeling, customized packaging, brand upgrades, fast delivery, real-time monitoring, and commercial integration, helping clients save more time and effectively improve their business competitiveness. By providing a range of value-added services, STONE3PL enables you to dedicate more time to the development of your core business.

FAQs

1、When should we start planning for peak season with a 3PL？

Ideally, you should start planning several months before the first major holiday promotion. This allows ample time to review forecasts, set deadlines, arrange inventory receipts, and adjust processes before order volumes surge, ensuring stable logistics during peak seasons like Christmas.

2、Why Choose Stone3PL?

As a global digital intelligent logistics service provider, Stone3PL offers the following advantages:

• Global fulfillment backbone
• Digital technology-driven and e-commerce platform integration
• Reduced shipping costs and unnecessary tariffs
• Reliability, customer satisfaction, and unlocking global growth

Reference:

1、5 Tips for Christmas Business: Logistics at Christmas

https://dhl-freight-connections.com/en/solutions/5-tips-for-christmas-business-logistics-at-christmas/