A Focus on Deliveries Early in the Year Can Help Retailers Drive up Peak Season Performance, Says nShift

Retailers should use “groundwork quarter” at the start of the year to ensure they have the right infrastructure for “golden quarter” in place

“A lack of delivery options at checkout” and “unclear returns policies” could be denting retailers’ peak-season profits, warns a new guide by nShift, the global leader in online delivery management software.

A new guide, “Going for gold” argues that to successfully prepare for the “golden quarter” at the end of the year, retailers and warehouses must recast the earliest weeks of 2024 as the “groundwork quarter”.  During this time, they must make a robust assessment of their performance during peak season and decide whether they have the right technology and infrastructure in place to boost their chances of success.

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How orders are shipped to customers is a crucial part of golden-quarter success.  The guide notes that by failing to make the most of their delivery management, online retailers become vulnerable to five common errors:

1. Lack of delivery options – if customers can’t find the delivery experience they want, they will shop around for a better one
2. Low-brand awareness – even the fact a shopper has bought from a retailer is no guarantee that they will remember who they did business with
3. Insufficient delivery capacity – if retailers cannot keep up with demand and make good on their promises, they can’t expect a shopper to come back for more
4. Unclear returns policy – if shoppers can’t see how they could easily return something, they are less likely to buy in the first place
5. A failure to demonstrate eco credentials – to succeed during peak season, online retailers must find real and tangible ways to show how they are helping to reduce their impact on the planet

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Mattias Gredenhag, CTO at nShift said, “The golden quarter represents the biggest commercial opportunity for online and multi-channel retailers.  A failure to properly prepare risks undermining their chances of success.

“Offering the right peak-season customer experience is critical to success.  If shoppers have a bad delivery experience, they may abandon the retailer forever.  It’s vital that ecommerce businesses have the right infrastructure and technology in place to meet increased demand and encourage customer loyalty.”