Are you prepared for the busy holiday season?
As we are fast approaching the holiday season we want to make sure that you and your customers don’t miss out on any of that precious Christmas stock. One of the busiest times of the year for freight worldwide is the months leading up to Christmas - our freight volumes increase over 40%. In this freight basics article we will give you a few helpful tips to take the stress out of Christmas.
Plan for growth
The rise of online sales and home deliveries has made the holiday period even busier than in the past – increasing well over 10% and it’s expected to be ever higher this year. With this in mind take the time out to look over your past freight volumes. This enables you predict popularity of your products, the volumes you will need to keep up with demand and where you have previously fallen short.
Let us know if you’re going to have significantly higher than usual volumes – this allows us to arrange the extra capacity needed.
How long will it take to get my freight?
You have figured out the volumes you need for Christmas, it’s time to make sure you have it on hand at the right time. Generally all transport modes are almost filled to capacity and the traffic volumes increase. Don’t forget to take into account your suppliers production time, congestion around the ports, customs and quarantine delays, handling into your store and the cost you are willing to pay for your freight service. With forward planning and organisation your freight will be in your store on time and your freight costs will be kept to a minimum.
Don’t over promise
Customers can be more demanding as the pressure of the holiday period bears down. Under promise, over deliver – offer what you know you can deliver, build in a safety margin and manage you customer’s expectations. We will work closely with you to give you the best information and deliver a service that works for both you and your customers.
We are here to help you make the right freight decision over the busy holiday period. To save both time and money contact your local office for further advice.