Peak season
Black Friday is technically over and Cyber Monday is on the rise. The most spoken words these days are “discounts”, “sales”, “promotions”, “savings”, “special offers”, etc. However, after shopping, you will need to know how to ship the items correctly. Shipping during holidays and peak season could be a real challenge, especially if you don’t know what to expect.
The entire shopping craze has moved now towards shipping craze. Shipping during holidays can be a real challenge.
Whether the shipping was included in the price of the product or you turned to a courier company to ship your packages, you probably expect the delivery to be done on time. Courier companies are often blamed for shipping delays during holidays because there is such a high request for the services.
Is it really the carriers fault whenever packages don’t get to their destination on time? Where do you think the problem arises from?
Retailers
Shortcomings of the retailers have a direct effect on the delivery time. A failure in any of the internal processes can give inaccurate data about the stocks available and, so, it turns to a higher waiting time to get the item delivered;
Last-minute demands from the customers put a strain on retailers and, thus, on courier companies that need to accommodate an extra volume of shipping orders;
Promotional plans are not aligned with distribution capacity– retailers are usually pushing their promotions in order to drive sales. Sometimes, they leave aside the distribution capacity. Giving a clear picture about shipping will not create false expectations and will avoid putting the blame on the courier company’s efficiency.
Customers
When the shipping service is not included in the price of the online purchase, customers have to arrange it themselves. One of the biggest issues arises when they do it at the very last minute, especially when shipping during holidays or peak season. Stores are extremely busy during winter holidays and even more during periods of intensive commercial discounts, as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
When arranging the shipping of items on their own, people have to make sure that the information is well communicated to the courier company as well as the representatives of the store. A wrong piece of information or simply an omission of information will lead to an unsuccessful collection. Courier drivers don’t have the time to wait for further instructions as their delivery schedule is more “packed” than other times of the year.
Any incorrect or wrong information like mistakes in the address will cause delays. The service would not be carried out on the scheduled day. Any modification in the address details will lead to a re-entering of the order in the courier system and will result in rescheduling of the pick-up.
Courier companies
There are many types of courier services. The transit times for delivery depends on courier companies chosen to perform the service.
When choosing standard services that usually have the most affordable rates, keep in mind that scheduling ahead is crucial to avoid any undesired surprises. This will give enough time for any changes to be made and any issues to be solved in time.
Take into consideration that there could be other external factors that could influence the delivery time, such as weather conditions.
If you are planning on shipping during holidays or peak season, do it as soon as you are done buying the presents for your loved ones. Having the gift shipped right on time is desirable. However, things don’t always go according to the plan so you will want the present to arrive rather before than after the scheduled day.
There are a few things to take into consideration when shipping during holidays, festive periods or periods of intensive shipping requests:
Check the weather forecast in the region where your shipment is sent. That could give you the answer for any possible delay.
Check ahead the opening hours for the customer service of the courier company or online booking platform from where you booked the services.
Turn to their customer support to see if there is any service area affected due to weather conditions.
Check with the courier company directly their holiday calendar for services and see if there are dates where neither collection nor deliveries are done.
To sum it up, even if it is not so easy to foresee exceptional cases, it is very important to take into consideration all the factors that can make your shipment delayed or late. You need to see if there is a way for you to avoid them.