How to Optimize Order Fulfillment for the Holidays

The influx of holiday shoppers can be overwhelming. Prepare your order fulfillment strategies for the upcoming holidays with these tips.

Get your inventory ready

Start by sorting through your holiday inventory. Make sure that all your products are correctly labelled and stored in the proper locations so that it’s easier to pick and pack them when the time comes. Some businesses even like to use specific putaway techniques for their holiday inventory to make the fulfillment process easier.

Organize your fulfillment schedule

When you are receiving a normal amount of demand, you can work on fulfilling one order at a time with no hassle. But when the holidays start approaching, you’ll receive more orders, and you won’t have time to work on each one individually. In order to fulfill all your orders on time, you must speed up your fulfillment operations by working on multiple orders simultaneously.

Consider multiple warehouse locations and delivery options

The most common fulfillment problems that come up during the holidays include running out of stock and late delivery. A solution for both of these issues is to either work with a third-party company that offers multiple warehouses or consider owning warehouses yourself. This way, even if you run out of stock in one warehouse, you’ve got more as back up in another warehouse. These warehouse options also allow you more flexibility with delivery. Third-party companies may offer delivery services for you, or if you own your own warehouses, you can adjust delivery services according to your seasonal needs. And with more than one delivery option, you can pick the best one to ensure your customers receive their orders on time.

Make use of fulfillment services

Aside from looking for third-party companies to help with your storage and delivery, it’s also a good idea to find one that will help you with your other fulfillment tasks. There are several third-party companies that can handle receiving orders, collecting payment, picking the products for the order, packing them, shipping and delivery, and even handling after sales processes like returns, refunds, and customer care. Fulfillment by Amazon is one such service that manages all of these services for a nominal fee.

Since there’s a lot to be done when preparing your business for the holidays, it’s easy to get lost in the pile of work. But we’ve got you covered. Check out our holiday resources, that include an ebook, video, and a few webinars, to help you get everything in order for the upcoming season!