Top 10 Holiday Season Setbacks and How to Avoid Them (episode 406)

by April Buencamino-dy

We’re doing something a little different this episode.

I was lucky enough to be invited to host a panel session at Brightpearl by Sage’s Peak Season Summit.

And it was so insightful I asked them if we could share with all of you too. And they said yes! Thanks, Brightpearl!

The discussion is titled “Top 10 Holiday Season Setbacks (And How To Avoid Them)” and six panelists (including one of our past guests Dan from Lovepop) gave SO MUCH practical advice it was a real pleasure to chair the session.

BP Panel re-purpose Top 10 Holiday Season Setbacks (And How To Avoid Them) on eCommerce MasterPlan Podcast

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The Top 10 Holiday Season Setbacks

As voted for by retailers based on their experience in 2021:

  1. Increased costs
  2. Inventory shortages
  3. Supply chain issues
  4. Delayed orders
  5. Stockouts and product shortages
  6. Labor shortage
  7. Attracting new customers
  8. Peak online demand
  9. Complexities of multiple shopping and delivery channels
  10. Lackluster technology

Supply Chain Issues

Not surprisingly, the top 5 challenges on the list are related to supply chain issues.

Nicole from Retail Minded says that disruption is expected at this point. Be proactive to remain profitable and remember that transparency is delivered through technology. If you have to, make the hard decisions and change what you’ve done so you can move forward.

At Lovepop, Dan says they’ve also embraced complexity and made changes to how they currently run operations to keep up with supply chain concerns. One example is by having more than just one carrier to fulfill their requirements.

Jill from Inventory Planner adds that supply chain issues can be avoided or minimized if forecasting is done ahead of time. Find out what your customers want based on data and communicate this to your vendors. Stay nimble and also don’t forget to coordinate with your marketing team as well.

Labor Challenges

Brian of SPS Commerce says that labor challenges come up all the time and are not holiday-specific. One way to counteract this particular issue is by automating your processes. By doing this, you avoid having to supplement peak business seasons with additional manpower since you already have your processes set up well.

Mark from Huboo adds that you also need to look at labor retention. When you have good people, do what you can to keep them.

Rupert from 5874 Commerce mentions that it’s also about preparation. Find out what you can do ahead of time and establish processes for these. On the marketing side, planning ahead and being really organized are key to getting the workload out of the way.

Shipping and Fulfillment Concerns

Shipping and fulfillment issues can be addressed by demand forecasting, says Mark. Businesses have to prepare for things such as massive increases, remodeling, and even remapping in the warehouse. Training will also help your staff to cope with peaks and demands so this is something you may want to look at as well.

Jill seconds Mark’s points and adds that you really have to plan now. Look at the various checkpoints during your critical periods and know what you need and have to do when demand is high and conversely when things are moving slower than expected.

Brian agrees with both Mark and Jill in that you have to really prepare. Whenever possible, standardize and automate processes across your different sales channels. Put the right tools in place and know how to optimise them to better handle your shipping and fulfillment.

Handling Increased Costs

When it comes to the increase in various costs, Nicole’s tip is to go straight to your vendors and partners. Collaborate with them and have transparency on the cost issues. These may be hard conversations to have but can help you keep your costs down. 

Rupert cites Amazon’s delayed shipping as an example of how to bring down costs. Find out if you can combine things or set up other shipping methods to lower expenses. He also says you can combine this strategy with pulling orders forward.

Similar to Rupert’s tips, Mark’s has to do with carriage and economy services. Be selective with your carriers. There are plenty of choices out there with different price ranges, so make sure you choose the right one for your business.

How to Prepare for What’s Still to Come

The panelists also share some pointers on how to handle other issues that may arise.

  • For your product line, Dan says, figure out what your customers really want and focus on your profitable items.
  • Nicole says to use the 5 Cs of communication across all of your channels because customers can be very picky. Be honest and clear about the reality of your inventory as well.
  • For Jill, you have to be smarter about your demand forecasting so you’re always prepared for what’s coming.
  • Rupert goes straight to email automation because it’s the easiest thing you can do for retention with the data you have.
  • Mark recommends making an end-to-end audit of your supply chain to find areas where you can potentially have some huge savings.
  • Brian’s final tip is to proactively share the data you have both with your internal suppliers and your end customers.

Lastly, Dan says to do things early and remember to smooth out your demands.

Moving Forward in 2023

Here are the panelists’ final tips for the coming year 2023:

  • Work on your forecasting and focus on the data.
  • Lean into your loyal customers.
  • Do a health check on your business.
  • Review your technology stack and where you’re spending your cash.
  • Always remember the hard cost and soft cost.
  • Lean in on your people.

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