How to Avoid Letting Your Online Customers Down at Peak Sales Periods

Whether you are new to ecommerce or are a seasoned online trader, it's easy to fall victim to your own success if you don't plan your online sales strategy around your peak sales times.

So how do you make sure that your customers receive their orders in good time?

Several well known brands found themselves struggling to fulfil Christmas order at the end of last year, leaving many customers disappointed and without their expected Christmas goodies.

Fortnum & Mason and Sainsbury's are among retailers who were unable to honour all online Christmas orders. Fortnum & Mason blamed IT issues combined with an unprecedented leap in trade levels, while Sainsbury's were investigating a problem where customers found their online orders mysteriously cancelled. 

 

Forward Planning

Unexpected issues can always throw a spanner into the works for any ecommerce business, however many companies simply fail to take a long view of their annual sales cycle, concentrating instead on current day to day issues.

The following points can help to avoid letting your customers down:

• Plan out your annual sales cycle, identifying peaks and troughs related to your product type or industry.
  
  
• Discuss these cycles with your suppliers ensuring that they are aware of when you need additional stock or flexibility with deliveries.
   
• Make sure you plan staffing levels in advance, busy periods can creep up very quickly!
  
  
• Discuss your annual seasonal shipping requirements with your courier so that they can make special arrangements for you when you are busy.
  
  
• Try to avoid big infrastructure changes i.e. new IT systems, computers etc that could cause unexpected issues during peak times.  
   
• Take a moment to review your procedures for returns and customer service to ensure you have enough resources available to handle additional enquiries from customers, as well as fulfilling increased levels of deliveries.
  
  
• Talk to you online payment provider to ensure you are getting the best deal from your levels of online orders.