Common Fulfilment Mistakes on Black Friday

Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) represent the most critical sales period of the year for ecommerce brands, generating billions in revenue across the industry. However, it’s easy to get caught up in a rush and make the most common Black Friday fulfilment mistakes that could cost you.

With fierce competition and high customer expectations, ecommerce brands must get everything right – from website performance to inventory management, shipping and logistics. If not, they could risk losing market share to better-prepared competitors.

In this article we will look at some of the most common mistakes in the fulfilment industry around Black Friday and how to combat them.

Forecasting demand

Black Friday forecasting is an art. It’s also a pivotal part of having a successful Black Friday and Peak Season. Many businesses won’t forecast the amount of stock they need for this period and will end up with too much or too little. Both can cause issues. It’s about finding the perfect balance.

Speed and efficiency

In this day and age, customers expect their orders fast. If you can’t keep up with the pace and demand for orders you risk losing current and future customers. This is why it’s key to use a 3pl partner who can help with automated order processing and prioritised shipping to ensure speed and efficiency are at the forefront of your Black Friday fulfilment operations.

Warehouse capacity

Having sufficient warehouse capacity and using it wisely is a huge part of a successful fulfilment process, during Black Friday and beyond. The mistake businesses often make during the Black Friday period is having a warehouse which isn’t big enough to cope with the increase in stock stored, or the stock they have isn’t strategically positioned for ease of access, safety and efficiency.

Customer service support

With increased sales around Black Friday comes more customer queries. This is an issue which is often overlooked, leaving your customer service team constantly fighting fires. This can lead to delayed responses and customers getting frustrated that they are not receiving the loyal, speedy service they are used to. This can lead to unhappy customers and lost sales. It’s important to have accessible literature for common questions and to keep customers in the loop throughout the process to cut down on queries.

Inventory management

Events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday push ecommerce operations to their limits. Online store managers juggle massive inventory shipments, and a common mistake is around how they manage that inventory. If a clear inventory management plan isn’t in place, products can be late getting to customers, incoming stock becomes hard to process and this can cause major delays and problems.

Use e2b for Black Friday fulfilment

If you are looking for a 3pl partner to help with your ecommerce fulfilment needs around Black Friday, then get in contact. We will be happy to help you and find a fulfilment solution for you.