How to cope with seasonal peaks

During the innovation update & networking session on 15 November 2016, Groenewout held a presentation on the best way for organizations that are active in e-commerce to cope with logistics peaks during the Christmas season and other promotional periods.

How to cope with seasonal peaks?

Customers expect short lead times and high transparency, and they primarily tend to place lots of small orders. This can place substantial pressure on the logistics processes, especially around the time of Christmas and New Year.

The presentation addressed various topics that play a role in the successful management of logistics peaks. For example, it became clear that it is wise to collaborate closely with Marketing and Sales in the run-up to the logistics peak – to think about how newsletters, marketing activities and promotions will affect the revenue forecast and sales volumes. Another aspect highlighted was the importance of personnel planning in coping with logistics peaks, and Groenewout also explained in which situations mechanization is preferable. Furthermore, companies can make certain preparations in terms of their warehouse activities in order to reduce the workload during the logistics peak, such as by picking fast-moving items in advance. In order to ensure that customers receive their orders on time, it is important for companies to inform their logistics service providers about the required capacities beforehand. And last but not least: companies should be clear and transparent in their communication of delivery times to their customers.