Prepare for Peak - Product selection and supply chain optimisation

Every year, the peak selling season gets closer and closer – last year we even recommended that you start preparing for Christmas in July, but this year we’re instead looking at how to best save your bottom line. Let’s talk about how you can maximise your businesses efficiency during peak and help achieve your goals.

What is Peak Sale Season?

Peak sale season, often shortened to Peak, is the period when a company experiences its highest volume of business. It will vary from business to business but for a large number of customers this time is from the middle of October to the start of December, with the largest surge in mid-November co-inciding with Black Friday sales. And in recent years, this boost in sales has been centred largely on the online market. Using Amazon as an example, they saw that even post pandemic customers had a 50% increase in their online shopping during peak 2022 .

But not only is online becoming more and more important, we’re also seeing the start of the sales creeping forward. What used to be an event for the week of Black Friday slowly began to be the whole of November and now sometimes even starts at the very end of October. Data from IMRG shows the trend of retailers launching campaigns earlier and earlier, with none launching the day of the event.

With competitor’s sales launching earlier and a huge increase in potential customers, it’s vital that your logistics operation is ready for peak well before it begins. And that’s where our advice on correct product selection can help save you money

We separate this into two main areas that can maximise your businesses efficiency over peak: Product selection and Supply Chain organisation.

The benefits of Correct Packaging Product Selection

It goes without saying that an eCommerce operation needs to use the correct packaging – while essential in all forms of logistics as the first step in the supply chain, in eCommerce it will almost certainly be one of the main elements making up the customer experience. Ensuring a package arrives in a timely fashion and correctly packaged is key for establishing repeat business. And one of the best ways to ensure this is to have as time efficient of an operation as possible in your logistics hub.

Our range consists of a number of products to fit any business and some of them provide a considerable advantage for businesses that need to process a high quantity of orders. Which inspired us to take a look at some of our best time saving products. In the test we compare one of our standard cardboard boxes with our Quick pack returnable boxes, the price for these boxes is slightly higher than the standard but the benefits they present are considerable. They can be ready to be packed within seconds and come with an adhesive strip that makes it easy to seal the box without a need for tape, not to mention they have a second strip for easy returns. The speed saving element is considerable enough that we felt it necessary to produce a video to demonstrate the potential time savings.

And as you heard in the video, having a more efficient packing process can lead to real tangible savings on manpower. We estimate that using crash-lock boxes can be 4 times as fast as using a standard box as well as being significantly easier to maintain quality of the pack. The sheer time saving and improved consistency make them ideal for busier businesses.

The philosophy extends to other products as well, using a tool like our water activated tape dispenser makes it easy to dispense just the right amount of tape when sealing up boxes and saves on material waste as well as time. By using the right products, you can introduce efficiencies that lead to real savings as well as providing the best service to your customers.

Organise your Supply Chain for Peak

Providing a range of options for delivery as well, as making sure it’s as fast as possible, is another way you can ensure your customers receive the best service possible over peak. It’s something we aim to provide as well with Next Day Delivery as standard so that we can provide the products our customers need as soon as possible, as well as collection options for local business. Making sure you have everything you need in advance, or a partner who can provide what you need when you need it, is one of the core ways you can manage the increased demand as it comes in.

We cannot give specific advice on when to begin holding a sale, although the earlier data will hopefully give a good indication of when the market as a whole is beginning to move. We would encourage anyone planning a Black Friday sale to get in touch with our team and make sure you have everything you could need. By making sure you get what you need when you need it, you free up space for your own goods and means you can service more customers!

In the words of Mandy Radford, Sales Director here at RAJA UK

“We stock hold our products for next day delivery, whether you need single packs or full pallets, to ensure you can use your space for your products. The critical nature of having a reliable packaging supply chain to get your products out of the door on time means partnering with a dedicated supplier like RAJA is essential.”

Don’t be unprepared!

Being ready for the sudden surge of orders as peak arrives is crucial – whether you plan to have a dedicated sale or not, purchasing activity will be higher and being able to provide for it presents a great opportunity. We can help you with selecting the perfect products to make your packaging chain as smooth and efficient as possible – why not check out our Best Prices selection for a look at some top performers as well as see which of our mailboxes is the one for you?