E-commerce Peak Season Benchmark Report 2024

Delve into Black Friday and peak season data insights from Mintsoft's analytics and a recent customer survey.

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%

have experienced a stock-out

%

increase in orders processed per operative

%

experienced increased time to dispatch

%

of users had increased carrier costs

With retail’s Golden Quarter now well underway, online retailers and fulfilment businesses will be hoping that the late summer ‘better than expected’ uplift in sales continues.

There are certainly reasons to be optimistic: inflation is now holding steady at 2.2%, a huge drop compared to October 2022 when it peaked at 11.1%, and interest rates are expected to drop too. That said, the upcoming Budget has dampened consumer confidence, which fell sharply in September.

Of course, businesses across the supply chain are now well-versed in dealing with uncertainty. Those who’ve survived Covid and the worst of the cost of living crisis know that they need to be responsive to changes in consumer behaviour, and fine tune their own operations to maximise opportunities and protect their margins.

Peak season is usually when these changes are amplified, with consumer behaviour being shaped by everything from the economic climate to the latest trends on social media.

One of the biggest shifts we’ve seen in recent years is the growing prominence of Black Friday in the retail calendar – signalling the start of frenzied activity in the lead-up to Christmas and the January sales.

Since 2019, the value of online sales in the UK has risen by more than 60% in November – rising from £1.8 billion to more than £3 billion in 2023. While the cost of living crisis hit retailers hard, shoppers hunting for bargains provided a welcome boost for retailers in the run up to Christmas last year.

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Our research: Insights from the industry

Small and mid-sized firms are the driving force of the UK supply chain – and their performance, and the challenges they face, can shine a light on the health of the sector. Working in this industry, it’s helpful to see how your peers are faring, and where there could be opportunities to improve your profitability.

With this in mind, we recently took the pulse of the industry to find out how businesses are dealing with:

Order volume growth
Stock management challenges
The importance of your workforce
Order processing KPIs
UK carrier trends

We surveyed small and mid-sized ecommerce and fulfilment businesses from across the UK, asking them when they start preparing for peak season, whether they have experienced a stock-out, and how they manage staffing over this crucial period.

Another key theme was the impact of surge pricing, typically applied by carriers during peak season, and what firms can do to get the best deals on shipping, while maintaining their service level agreements (SLAs) with customers.

Alongside the survey findings, we also spoke to senior leaders in firms that are thriving, thanks to the investments they’ve made in technology. This has given them complete visibility and control of their inventory, and enabled them to dispatch orders quickly and accurately using courier integrations.

How can order fulfilment software help?

The message from our research was clear: it is never too early to start preparing for peak season. While most firms plan for Black Friday at least three months in advance, astonishingly, just under 17% leave it until one month beforehand.

Lack of time is one of the most common reasons why planning is left until the last minute – which is why it’s important to use technology to do the heavy lifting wherever possible. There are now many off-the-shelf solutions, including warehouse management software and ecommerce management systems, to help you plan ahead, and respond to unexpected spikes or slumps in demand.

Solutions specifically designed for ecommerce sellers, 3PLs and fulfilment houses, and warehouses allow you to automate more processes, so you can speed up fulfilment and reduce the burden on stretched warehouse teams. It also provides the real-time insights you need to track performance, and proactively make decisions that drive profits and growth.

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Insights at a glance

See a selection of insights from this peak season benchmark report.

Take a glimpse at the impact peak season has on UK retail sales, order volumes, KPIs and the cost of carriers.

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Optimising Supply Chain Fulfilment

Watch our panel discussion with experts from YF, Diamond Logistics, Starlinks Global & Candy Kittens. They explore the findings from this report and discuss how businesses can optimise fulfilment despite seasonal peaks and supply chain disruptions.

Watch now