So, you’ve made it through the busy peak season. Congratulations! But before you relax, there’s still work to do. There’s inventory management, parcel returns, and customer retention to focus on – amongst other things. These are the key things to put on your post peak season to-do list.
8 key considerations for the post peak season period
1. Inventory Management
Conduct a thorough audit of your holiday stock. Knowing what sold well and what didn’t should steer your demand planning for next year. Analysing sales and returns data can help you make informed decisions about how much inventory to order for future peak periods.
To shift leftover holiday season stock, hold a clearance sale (January is a great time for this), and offer product bundles and discounts on your e-commerce website.
2. Cash Flow Management
It’s important to understand your financial position after peak season. Sales may have been robust, but there are likely to be several expenses – such as paying suppliers and taxes – to remember.
A point of sale (POS) system that integrates with your accounting software can help you track your sales, inventory and expenses so you always have a clear view of your cash flow. Other tools can also support cash flow management for small businesses, automating processes like invoicing and expense tracking.
Make a financial plan for the slower off-season periods, too. Maintain a cash reserve to act as a safety net, and develop strategies to boost sales during this time, such as running promotions.
3. Customer Retention and Relationship Building
Did you know that returning e-commerce customers spend 67% more over time than first-time customers?1 You’re likely to have a wave of new customers through your (online) doors during peak season, so delivering a great experience is key to ensuring they come back.
Include a personalised thank you note with every order you send out (bonus points if it’s handwritten!) Send a follow-up email, too, with a discount code for a future purchase.
You could consider creating a loyalty program, offering exclusive deals, discounts and early sales access to subscribers. Your brand will interact with the same people, helping to build and nurture relationships, whilst providing your business with reliable income.
Don’t forget to invite customer reviews, too. This will give you invaluable insights to improve your offering, whilst also helping to build brand trust amongst other customers.
4. Marketing and Promotions
Consumer spending tends to be slower in January, so you’ll need to get creative to attract sales during this time. Offer double or triple points for loyalty members, and consider running a flash sale to get rid of leftover holiday stock.
People typically look to become “better versions of themselves” in the new year – do you have any health and wellbeing products that you can push across your social media channels?
Lean into retargeting marketing, too. Look at your peak season website data – specifically shoppers who added a product to their basket but didn’t complete the purchase. A timely retargeting advert might push them to revisit the sale, or offer them a discount for that product to entice them to buy.
5. Return and Exchange Policies
E-commerce returns are a pain for retailers, but they can’t be ignored. 84% of consumers will not shop again with a business after a bad returns experience2, so it’s important you offer a clear and easy returns policy.
If you’re clever, returns can be used as an opportunity to upsell other products. When a customer begins the returns process, ask them a few questions about why they’re returning the item. It may be something you can address – for example, if they say they’re worried about the item’s quality, you could upsell them a longer-lasting, albeit slightly more expensive, item. Or if they’re returning an item of clothing because it doesn’t quite suit them, suggest other similar styles which may be a better match.
You could also offer the customer the opportunity to exchange the item instead of returning it – with a generous discount or loyalty point bonus to entice them.
6. Data Analysis and Reporting
Taking a deep dive into your peak season sales data will provide you with invaluable insights to better understand your customers’ wants. What sold well – and what didn’t? What purchasing trends did you identify? What feedback did you receive? These insights will help you refine your product offering.
If you use inventory management software, the technology’s data collection and analytics capabilities can identify sales patterns, enabling your business to better forecast future demand.
Look at your peak season marketing campaigns, too, to identify successful strategies and areas for improvement. This will help you allocate your marketing resources – including budget – in the future.
7. Operational Efficiency
It’s also important to analyse how your logistics operations ran during peak season. After all, any delays or bottlenecks risk impacting the customer further down the line.
AI-driven technology is now playing an increasing role in helping SMEs automate and streamline their processes, whilst giving them greater visibility over their supply chain. Here’s a brief snapshot:
Inventory management software. Leveraging predictive analytics, this technology will read your past sales data and seasonal trends to help you more accurately forecast demand. Furthermore, it will continually track your stock levels, in real-time, and automatically send replenishment orders to suppliers so that you never run out.
Warehouse management systems. These can determine the optimal routes for inventory flows, so goods arriving to a warehouse are processed and moved on for shipping to customers in the fastest, most efficient way.
Automated chatbots. These can respond to customer queries on your website and social media pages, 24/7, meaning a customer interaction is never missed. They are now so advanced that they can even understand customer intent and make personalised product suggestions – helping to boost your sales.
8. Supplier Relationships
Post peak season is a good time to reflect on your suppliers’ performance. Some key things to consider:
- Are they reliable? Do they meet production and delivery deadlines?
- Is the quality of their products good enough?
- Do they offer competitive prices? Is there room for negotiation?
- Are they flexible? Can they react quickly to an increase in demand?
- If you’re thinking of expanding your business overseas, would it be more cost effective to source a supplier there?
It’s important to carry out regular supplier audits to ensure your business is always receiving the best service.
Of course, there’s one final consideration that your customers really care about – the delivery. With a DHL Express Business Account, you can guarantee them fast and reliable shipping – wherever in the world they may be.
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