{"id":8169,"date":"2020-11-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tegnacorpstage.wpengine.com\/advertise\/2020\/11\/19\/shipageddon-is-your-business-ready-for-procrastinating-online-shoppers-this-holiday-season\/"},"modified":"2023-01-25T11:34:50","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T18:34:50","slug":"shipageddon-is-your-business-ready-for-procrastinating-online-shoppers-this-holiday-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tegna.com\/advertise\/shipageddon-is-your-business-ready-for-procrastinating-online-shoppers-this-holiday-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Shipageddon: Is Your Business Ready for Procrastinating Online Shoppers This Holiday Season?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Monica Longoria, Senior Insights Strategist, TEGNA<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve sent or received a package in the last few months, there’s a good chance you’ve experienced delivery delays. The recent surge in online shopping has made it difficult for parcel companies to meet standard delivery expectations. During the pandemic, they have been operating at near-maximum capacity, and it takes years of planning to start up new facilities to boost that capacity. With the holiday season being the busiest time of year for delivery networks, this problem will only worsen.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jason Goldberg, the chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis, has creatively coined this pending chaos as ‘<\/span>Shipageddon<\/span><\/a>.’<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How Bad Will \u2018Shipageddon\u2019 Be?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

A survey by<\/span>\u00a0Fluent Pulse<\/span><\/a> asked U.S. consumers when they plan to do most of their holiday shopping. Only 21% plan to do so before Thanksgiving. That\u2019s a problem because, according to<\/span>\u00a0ShipMatrix<\/span><\/a>, \u201cthe capacity shortfall could average as much as 7 million packages a day between Thanksgiving and Christmas.\u201d For comparison, the shortfall during the same period in 2019 was only 2.5 million a day.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How Can My Business Prepare?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
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  1. Evaluate Your Holiday Inventory. <\/span><\/b>With typical inventory planning being disrupted by the pandemic and economic uncertainty, businesses have less merchandise stocked than usual for the holidays. Ensure you attain a stock of crucial holiday items that should be in high demand.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    1. Promote In-Store & Curbside Pickup. <\/span><\/b>A recent\u00a0Google<\/span><\/a> survey found that 53% of holiday shoppers will choose to shop at stores that offer contactless shopping. Further, 47% plan to use the option to buy online and pick up in-store \/ curbside. This is an excellent solution for customers who want the safety of online ordering but the efficiency of local pickup.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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      1. Partner with Couriers for Local Deliveries. <\/span><\/b>With parcel companies overwhelmed with orders, they may cap deliveries during peak demand. An alternative is sending orders from local stores to customers via couriers working for companies like Instacart and\u00a0Shipt.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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        1. Plan Your Shipping Process. <\/span><\/b>According to a survey from\u00a0CommerceNext<\/span><\/a>, 63% of merchants are concerned about consumer expectations of fast, free delivery coupled with shippers charging peak-season surcharges. The concern is justified, as 83% of consumers surveyed cited free shipping as the most appealing promotion this year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          If you currently sell merchandise online, establish shipping expectations upfront with your customers:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n