The end of the year is traditionally the busiest time in e-commerce – and the most profitable too. As great as it is to watch the shoppers rush online to get the best BCFM deals, at the same time the sales peak may present some challenges for e-commerce businesses. How to make sure you are prepared for everything?

If you want to make the most of the year’s biggest shopping event, it’s important to start planning as early as possible. Important dates to remember in 2021

  • Single's Day (China): 11th of November
  • Thanksgiving (USA): 25th of November
  • Black Friday, 26th of November
  • Cyber Monday, 29th of November

Be prepared for everything

Many online retailers start promoting their Black Friday deals early, and it may be a good idea to extend the sales period this year. Instead of Black Friday, you might want to think of Black November or give your customers special offers throughout the holiday season.

E-commerce businesses are usually pretty clever at figuring out ways to keep customers engaged. For example, these have proven to be great ways to create buzz around Black Friday:

  • Special deals, offers and promotions
  • Hourly deals
  • Countdown timers
  • Sales promotions and events on social media
  • Coupon codes and bundles

There are also a bunch of important things to remember on the e-commerce platform itself. Without freaking you out too much, it’s probably wise to give these a look-over.

  • Can your website handle the peak in traffic?
  • Have you created bundles and offers
  • Are your best deals and offers on the home page?
  • Is there a need to create dedicated landing pages for Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals?
  • How’s the mobile experience, what about loading times?
  • Is your email engine ready to boost sales?
  • Are you selling on multiple channels?

Remember to optimize fulfillment

An increase in sales in a short time frame can make it difficult to fulfill and deliver orders to customers as quickly as usual. Many e-commerce merchants find it difficult to maintain the service level their customers are used to. This year, many additional factors cause uncertainty. We have, for example, seen the global restrictions on mobility affect delivery times.

Key tasks in optimizing fulfillment this Black Friday include:

  • Reserving enough stock
  • Reserving enough packaging materials
  • Organizing warehouse for quicker picking and packing
  • Hiring additional fulfillment staff
  • Determining criteria for prioritizing and organizing orders
  • Communicating to fulfillment and delivery staff
  • Sharing the shipping times on your website

It's time to ask: can you handle it?

When your e-commerce sales reach a certain point, you need to ask yourself: can I actually handle this? Seeing those order numbers hit record highs is awesome, but there’s a line for everyone — and only so many hours in the day.

Fulfillment mistakes are costly. Customers will remember, and bad reviews hurt your reputation. Keep in mind that you always have options — partnering with an e-commerce dedicated 3PL company is a strategic decision for many e-commerce businesses.

Here’s how we can help you

  • We handle storage, picking, packing, and shipping for you.
  • We make sure there’s always enough staff, even when sales peaks.
  • We partner with the most reliable courier partners to ensure quick and cost-effective shipping.
  • Even with lower shipping volumes, you can still enjoy the benefits of larger volume deals.
  • If you choose, you can store your products in multiple warehouses at the same time. In this way, the warehouse closest to your customer fulfills the order. If there are delays in one geographic area, another warehouse can pick up the order.

Read what the steps are to start shipping with OGOship.

Want to chat with one of our e-commerce experts about your needs this Black Friday and beyond?
Get in touch here.

 

This blog post is posted originally in 2020, but updated for 2021.