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It’s never too early to prepare for the holiday peak season, especially with disruptions mounting amid solid consumer spending. Shippers and carriers are employing automation, data-based decision making, smart inventory management strategies, and tapping into lessons learned from last year to get into position for the 2024 peak season.
The holiday selling season is getting longer
In 2023, consumers spent $109.3 billion online between November 1 and Cyber Monday on November 27 — a 7.3% increase from 2022, Adobe Analytics reports. Spending on Cyber Monday itself spiked as well, jumping 9.6% to $12.4 billion, according to the report.
Why the early start?
Rather than forking over expedited shipping fees or risking out-of-stock issues, consumers started their shopping earlier in 2023 beginning with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or even earlier. The longer season isn’t the only important takeaway from the most recent holiday sales period. Here’s a look at some of the other trends:
Omnichannel Retailing
Omnichannel retailing is a business strategy that combines physical and digital touchpoints to create a consistent customer experience across multiple channels, including in-store, mobile, and online. Online and other non-store sales such as social commerce helped drive overall holiday sales growth in 2023, which jumped 8.2% to $276.8 billion, according to U.S. Census Bureau data reported by the National Retail Federation. Social commerce — in which the shopping experience occurs on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram — more than doubled between 2020 and 2023, hitting $56.2 billion, or about 4.7% of total retail sales.
Consumers are continuing in-store shopping as well. Retailers and their suppliers need to invest in all the channels their customers are using.
Disruptions are likely to continue
The supply chain upheavals that have occurred over the past few years will continue to impact holiday preparations for the 2024 peak season. For instance, the targeting of merchant ships in the Red Sea, as well as the drought at the Panama Canal, which is prompting authorities to reduce shipping volumes, will potentially impact air and ocean peak seasons all year long.
Reverse logistics and cybersecurity are critical functions
Retailers anticipated customers returning approximately $148 billion in merchandise for the 2023 holiday season, equating to a return rate of 15.4%, finds a National Retail Federation and Appriss Retailer report. Of this amount, nearly $25 billion in fraudulent returns was expected. Supply chain organizations that master reverse logistics and can head off fraud can gain a competitive edge.
To read the full article, click here. (Source: www.inboundlogistics.com).
BTX's experienced staff is always looking at industry trends and challenges to better support your transportation and logistics needs. Our wide range of services include retail logistics, ecommerce and much more.
