Black Friday (4)

Black Friday (4)

In our Black Friday series of posts, DHL examines the best delivery options for UK retailers.


As we move ever closer to Black Friday, in the latest of our special series of posts we take a look at one of the most important aspects for businesses during this time – your deliveries. Having a successful delivery service in place to manage the bumper amount of orders you can get on or around the day itself is imperative; otherwise you risk disappointing or losing customers.


To again help point your business in the right direction, DHL breaks down the effect Black Friday can have on deliveries and we give an insight into what customers might be expecting from your business on the day, before finally offering advice on the best delivery options.


The Black Friday effects
According to a recent article from The Drum, “last year many UK retailers were caught out by the popularity of Black Friday” as the unprecedented surge in orders caused delays in deliveries for many customers looking to grab a bargain. These issues affected retailers both large and small, and in several cases, the delays were down to simple factors like there not being enough drivers or vehicles to transport the goods.


Other effects included substantial backlogs of orders and subsequently customers received their purchases several days after their expected arrival time. With all this to think about, and when you also add in the fact that it’s believed that this year’s sales will be even larger than 2016, you’ve certainly got your work cut out.


What customers will be expecting
There’s also the expectations your customers have in relation to your deliveries to add into the equation. On top of the great deals and offers you’ve got, they’ll be anticipating the same delivery standards they usually get; in other words whatever delivery dates and times you offer for Black Friday is what they’ll expect.


Your delivery options
So what can you do to prevent any issues and to also manage the situation?
Firstly, and arguably most importantly, you need to ensure the delivery services you offer for Black Friday, can actually be fulfilled. This way you can avoid any negative feedback and unhappy customers, however – as we’ve mentioned before – you need to be realistic with this. Offering something like next-day UK delivery on Black Friday could be quite a tall order and you need to be certain this is something you’re capable of providing.


Super-fast deliveries like this will also put a lot of pressure on your business, so to make things a little easier, why not consider something a little more manageable like next-day or even 3-5 working days, and tailor the rates based on the size of the consignments? This way you give yourself leeway and a little more breathing space to manage all the orders. Be sure to make this explicitly clear on your website or when you speak to customers so there’s no confusion over when they can expect their purchases.


If you have your own delivery team, it might also be worth taking on extra driving staff over the next few weeks to cover yourself. The costs involved in doing this could be well worth it in the long run if it prevents you from failing to deliver items to customers.
You should also note that Black Friday is the start of the festive buying period, so as well as being prepared for the run up to the 24th and the days after (cyber Monday, manic Monday etc.), it might also be wise to use some of the above approaches for your Christmas deliveries.


Choose DHL
There’s another option to consider as well and that’s to use the services of an external delivery and courier company like DHL. We have the knowledge, skill, UK networks and expertise to handle even the busiest of times like Black Friday, and what’s more, we can take the pressure away from you having to manage this, leaving you to focus on handling other aspects of this shopping event.

 

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