The busiest time for the majority of retailers is the end of the year - when the buzz of Black Friday is followed immediately by the Christmas rush.
Just as you’re trying to recover from the manic bargain-hunting of November’s annual mega-sale event, you realise you have to survive Christmas too!
A lot of people are starting their Christmas shopping as early as October, in an effort to get ahead before the festive rush. This means that retailers must be ahead of the game too, so they don’t lose trade to rivals who may be more on the ball.
Festive spending habits
According to a recent study by Empathy Broker, more than half of British shoppers are planning to buy at least some of their festive purchases online, with 51% saying they prefer it to the high street. Major brands, such as John Lewis, Boohoo and Next, enjoyed an increase in online sales in the run-up to Christmas last year.
Consumers across the UK spend around £19 billion on Christmas presents alone! A study by the Bank of England has revealed UK shoppers spend 116% more money on music and DVDs at Christmas than at any other time of year.
We also spend an additional 85% on books, 68% more on computers, an extra 56% on toiletries, 43% more on clothing and 39% more on alcohol. We will consume 308 million slices of turkey, 205 million portions of Christmas pud or cake and drink 205 million glasses of bubbly! On average, we spend an extra 20% on festive foods.
This is an excellent opportunity for online retailers to make some big sales, as consumers opt for the convenience of shopping from the comfort of their home, but the high demand at Christmas can also put a strain on your business’s resources, in terms of employees, stock and your delivering capabilities.
Customer expectations
Customers can be particularly demanding when bitten by the Christmas shopping bug and the online market becomes increasingly competitive. People expect a wide choice of options to fit in around their busy life: free deliveries and options to order late, but still receive next-day delivery!
So just how can you prepare your business for the high demand at Christmas? The answer is to follow some simple tips, so you can benefit from the increased demand, rather than feeling overwhelmed by it. The key to being prepared lies in organising your warehouse ahead of the festive rush.
Are your electric trucks ready for the rush?
Now is the time to ensure that your electric trucks are ready for the rush. At this time of year, you cannot afford to have a single truck down with battery failure.
When was the last time that you had your pallet trucks, stackers, order pickers and reach trucks batteries checked or serviced?
Over the years we have seen many trucks fail at the busiest time of year and have received service calls or requests for “stand in” hire trucks to cover the broken machines.
This year why not plan ahead with a service and health check of all of your battery powered machines prior to the rush.
W Hall – Motive Power understand your needs and keeping your fleet moving is what we do.
To book your service and health check contact our team. Call us on 028 9084 1444
