Ecommerce order fulfillment solutions to solve the holiday peak season surge

Tod Yazdi
Chief Executive Officer
TAGG Logistics

Last holiday season, more than a million gifts ordered online were not delivered in time.¹ The causes were unprecedented—including a boom in ecommerce order fulfillment, a tight labor market and shortage of transportation resources.

Addressing these challenges has required fresh eyes and analysis. To help our clients have a strong holiday season this year, the TAGGteam has worked tirelessly to develop TAGG Peak Prep, our end-to-end ecommerce order fulfillment plan for mitigating uncertainty across the supply chain. Let’s take a closer look at TAGG Peak Prep; then, I’ll share some additional strategies to help you manage higher sales volume in the weeks ahead.

Taking control of ecommerce order fulfillment for the 2021 holiday surge

TAGG Peak Prep is a volume forecasting and resource allocation strategy built to keep client orders flowing in a timely manner during the peak holiday season.

Collaborating closely with our clients, TAGG has developed forecasting models to ensure we are positioned to manage the anticipated surge in holiday sales volume. We develop these models by first studying historical peak volume by TAGG order fulfillment center, individual TAGG client and shipping services. Then, we share these data analytics with clients to gain their insights and make any adjustments to 2021 planning.

Based on this modeling, every part of the TAGG organization is rallying around our goals:

• Executing the TAGG Peak Prep strategy across our fulfillment network
• Adjusting resources, including staffing levels, by order fulfillment center
• Increasing our use of robotics and other automation to increase capacity
• Ensuring the stability of our technology and instituting code freezes to support higher shipping volume
• Working closely with carriers to ensure trucks and drivers are available to meet the demand

For TAGG clients who experience significant volume spikes during peak season, we’re measuring the performance of TAGG Peak Prep by “days to ship.” For these clients, TAGG provides a daily report of this key metric, which they can use to help set delivery expectations with their own customers during the peak holiday season.

Plan now for success

Now that I’ve overviewed TAGG Peak Prep, let’s look at additional strategies you can use to manage the spike in sales volume during Black Friday and beyond:

• Ensure your mobile website delivers a strong, convenient brand experience (the majority of ecommerce sales will be via mobile this holiday season)
• Create a gift idea page to streamline the shopping experience, as well as to showcase inventory that you want to move faster
• Update your processing time and days-in-transit shipping information at checkout, to better inform your customers
• Hold sales promotions before Black Friday
• Stay up-to-date on Parcel Surcharge rates and adjust your budget expectations accordingly. Read more here.
• Honor all Parcel Shipping Deadlines and communicate them to your customers, so they can be sure their order will arrive at their doorstep in time for the holidays! Read more here.

In addition—if you have products with high seasonality—you can help TAGG plan ahead. Let us know if you anticipate having sales promotions during the holidays or any other activity that may create a spike in sales.

Your ecommerce order fulfillment solution

TAGG Peak Prep is a comprehensive strategy to help you deliver the brand experience your customers expect during the peak holiday season. As your fulfillment partner, we’ll take care of the logistics—so you can take Your Business Everywhere^SM this holiday season with confidence.

Cheers! And Happy Holidays from all of us on the TAGGteam,

-Tod

^{1 CBSnews.com. “More than one million packages will not reach their destination this Christmas.” December 24, 2020.}