2016 is about to accomplish. New Year will come with new opportunities and targets to achieve. Distribution centres, retailers and manufacturers are busy preparing themselves for the holiday season with top notch best holiday logistics practices on their brain.

Shippers require extremely effective and efficient Distribution Center to take logistics load during holidays season. Festive peak times put Omni-channel pressures on shippers and create need for good completion infrastructure to smartly mange the orders. Companies should seriously consider these new demands to fulfill order profitable and delivering the most satisfying customer experience altogether.

Prefer Omni-Channel Inventory
For plenty of big retailers and shippers, it is a wise move to divide inventory in to streams i.e. one for e-commerce fulfillment and another for conventional replenishment. Though, for other companies, it will be good not to go for the separating walls for inventory types.

Set the Deadlines Earlier
Holiday logistics can become disordered in part as shippers might promise the items ordered before the Christmas or New Year would arrive timely. Moving order deadlines 2-3 days earlier can help in reducing last-minute stress. It will also help in setting more effective expectations fulfillment with consumers.

Always make sure you have contemporary and efficient TMS to track shipment status and give instant notification to consumers regarding shipment location and expected time to reach. Though, situation become too hot to handle in holiday season and it can put pressure on shippers easily.

Focusing on best holiday logistics practices will keep accounting staff and CFO happy, as there will be negligible shipping and labor cost increases, returns, and customer headaches.

What Stats Say?
Stats clearly show that 13% of people start their holiday shopping before September, while 55% do their holiday shopping before November. Logistics providers face the challenge of finding the efficient and safest method for transporting and delivering holiday packages.

People prefer online holiday shopping rather than visiting stores. Below is the statistical data of different reasons for it-

Shoppers are expected to spend 10% more this holiday season. 62% of retailers also expect boost in their overall sales. These are really motivating stats for logistics. But, is there any challenge behind? Yes, it is.
Technological development has made possible for the logistics and retailers offer third-party location pickup, click and collect option, same day delivery and other tempting features. Though, 72% of shoppers still prefer the home delivery option.

So, shoppers are looking for right options, convenience, and simplicity to meet their requirements. Embracing new and innovative ideas and proper execution will lead a great boost to logistics this holiday season.