{"id":12410,"date":"2021-07-02T07:26:46","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T14:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/?p=12410"},"modified":"2021-07-19T12:18:26","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T19:18:26","slug":"trends-predictions-holiday-ecommerce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/supply-chain\/trends-predictions-holiday-ecommerce\/","title":{"rendered":"Holiday 2021 Planning Guide: Trends &#038; Predictions for Ecommerce Fulfillment\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TL;DR\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click-and-collect and curbside pickup are here to stay.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Component shortages won\u2019t let up until after the holiday season.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expect shipping delays in Q4.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Travel is booming.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social selling and mobile sales are going to get bigger.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ecommerce sales skyrocketed in 2020. The numbers show <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/fulfillment\/2020-ecommerce-trends\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">consumer spending was up<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> starting in March, and those numbers still haven\u2019t gone down a year later. Even the months where there is usually a lull in shipping activity (often between January and May) sales have only increased.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re a high-growth brand, you\u2019ll want to capitalize on this booming market for the 2021 holidays. Now is the best time to start planning your <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/fulfillment\/ecommerce-fulfillment\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ecommerce fulfillment strategy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Be sure to connect with your supply chain partners now so that when issues arise they can be resolved quickly. Here are a few trends and predictions to help you prepare for a smooth holiday season this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Read more<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: This is one of a four-part series on how to prepare for Q4.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read our checklist guide for sellers, or the value-added services you should start planning now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Click-and-Collect<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are some <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/90636280\/3-pandemic-habits-you-should-keep-in-your-post-covid-life\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pandemic habits<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that will likely continue to be regular parts of our lives. In the retail world the new habits we acquired are click-and-collect and curbside pickup. Retailers implemented these to give consumers a same-day shipping feel without the hassle of any actual shipping. It was simple and easy for customers, and a low cost, efficient option for stores with a brick-and-mortar space.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click-and-collect is a hybrid approach to ecommerce shopping. Customers can purchase items online, but come to the store to pick up their items in person. Some retailers even offer curbside pickup, where a customer\u2019s orders will be brought outside to them, ready to go when they arrive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expect this service to remain a constant during the holidays. While small businesses might opt to take these services away during normal business times, they\u2019ll likely see an uptick in sales if they can support click-and-collect or curbside pickup. Larger retailers are only making it easier for consumers by expanding the list of products made available and will definitely benefit during the holiday rush. Any chance sellers have to get products to customers without dealing with shipping costs and potential delays, it\u2019s better for everyone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Hard to Find Parts\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There was a lot written about the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/graphics\/2021-semiconductors-chips-shortage\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">component shortages of 2020<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> because the issues they created rippled through so many industries. The biggest scarcity was semiconductor chips which affected every vertical from hardware, to tech, to the auto industry. Even big companies like Tesla and Apple reported slowing or stalling production due to a lack of parts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It all started at the beginning of the COVID breakout, when manufacturers in Asia had to shut down production in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Then the international freight networks experienced delays and shutdowns\u2014bottlenecks seemed to be happening all along the supply chain. The global flow of parts from Asian manufacturers to other countries is still unsteady today.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The effects from these shortages <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/supply-chain\/component-shortage-part-1\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">won\u2019t resolve before the 2021 holiday season<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Both large and small companies have been affected, so if you are a smaller brand worried you\u2019ll be the last in line to start getting back to full production, you\u2019re not alone. Everyone is in the same boat and there are ways small brands can get creative to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/supply-chain\/component-shortage-mitigation\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">get components before big brands<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expect part delays to continue. No matter your company size, spend time on accurate forecasting now and communicate your needs to your suppliers. There\u2019s never been a better time to ensure you have a really solid relationship with your suppliers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Getting Ahead of Shipping Times<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Between October and December of 2020 shipping was chaos. The volumes of products being moved via freight and domestic carriers was astounding. Amazon Prime Day started the surge in October. Then Black Friday and Cyber Week were the biggest they have ever been. And Christmas is always a tough deadline to hit, and last year was no different. Even though all of the major carriers put out very conservative ship-by dates, there were still so <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/shipping\/december-delivery-delays\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">many delays and late packages in Q4<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess if consumers will remember the issues they had with shipping times last Q4. Maybe people will forget and there will be another big surge and similar delays. But perhaps people will remember and plan ahead a bit more in 2021. Either way, expect shipping delays again this year. Ecommerce sales have only continued to rise year-over-year, especially during the holiday season. 2021 won\u2019t be any different.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s never too early to talk to your carriers or 3PL partners to make a game plan about your holiday shipping needs. Work with your team to compile a list of questions and concerns.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What days will your 3PL be open and shipping during the holidays?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are certain carriers putting daily caps on a region, your warehouse, or your 3PL?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the event of severe delays, how quickly can you pivot to a new carrier or service?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expect shipping delays this Q4. If you are planning a big 2021 holiday push, you should consider having a back-up carrier plan in place. No matter which carrier service you have, there are bound to be issues all around. By having a contingency plan that\u2019s easily executed you\u2019ll be ahead of the game when problems arise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Everything Travel Related<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Travel is probably going to be huge in 2021 and 2022. With the pandemic lockdown our lives got a lot smaller. Now that restrictions have been lifted, people will be flying, driving, and getting out of town to reconnect with family, recommit to trips that were cancelled, and seek out travel in all kinds of ways. Not only will the obvious industries be affected positively by all this travel traffic (airlines, hospitality, etc) so will any companies travel-adjacent (booking companies, experiential activities, and or course travel accessories like luggage).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s predicted that the remote working culture brought on by necessity in 2020 will continue to be a reality for many. With the option now to work remotely from anywhere, expect people to be travelling for \u201cworkations\u201d, or extended stays in distant locations while continuing to work. Apparently <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/explodingtopics.com\/blog\/travel-industry-trends\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aruba, the Barbados and Cayman Islands<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> all have plans to allow remote workers to live there for an extended period of time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expect consumers to want all things travel related. Even work accessories will likely remain in demand (laptops, headsets, video conferencing, etc), for all those people working while living that island life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Social Selling and Mobile Sales<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social selling can mean a few different things. At a basic level, it refers to building customer relationships through social media channels. This may mean sales people are building customer loyalties through individual conversions on social media. It could also mean that a brand publishes products on their social channels for customers to buy without leaving the platform.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More and more retailers have started offering their customers buying options on social media channels. For example, Instagram introduced <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/business.instagram.com\/blog\/introducing-shops-on-instagram\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instagram Shops<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, providing a native shopping experience for buyers within the merchants\u2019 profiles. Other social platforms have similar features, removing friction from the buying experience and helping merchants increase conversion rates.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For almost a decade mobile sales have continued to rise in popularity\u2014both from brands offering this new retail channel, as well as from consumers feeling comfortable buying via social platforms. Mobile commerce, referred to as M-commerce, is inching closer to being the primary source for online shopping with an estimated <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/mobile-commerce-shopping-trends-stats\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">45% of total US ecommerce market<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expect mobile sales to grow even more this year. Online shopping hit insurmountable highs in 2020. This might be the year that mobile sales really get huge.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 2020 holiday season broke open so many new systems. It was a challenging time for sellers, fulfillment providers, and carriers, but the lessons learned will certainly be applied to this next year. Ensure you\u2019re prepared for whatever 2021 might bring. If you are seeking fulfillment support, value added services for the holidays, or are curious about working with a great 3PL, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/company\/get-started\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">drop us a line<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TL;DR\u00a0 Click-and-collect and curbside pickup are here to stay.\u00a0 Component shortages won\u2019t let up until after the holiday season.\u00a0 Expect shipping delays in Q4. Travel is booming.\u00a0 Social selling and mobile sales are going to get bigger.\u00a0 Ecommerce sales skyrocketed in 2020. The numbers show consumer spending was up starting in March, and those numbers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supply-chain"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Planning for Peak Season: Trends in Ecommerce Fulfillment- DCL Logistics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to have a successful peak season. Get a full list of predictions and what to expect shipping and fulfillment to be like for the holidays.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Planning for Peak Season: Trends in Ecommerce Fulfillment- DCL Logistics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How to have a successful peak season. Get a full list of predictions and what to expect shipping and fulfillment to be like for the holidays.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/supply-chain\/trends-predictions-holiday-ecommerce\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DCL Logistics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-02T14:26:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-19T19:18:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Maureen Walsh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Maureen Walsh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Planning for Peak Season: Trends in Ecommerce Fulfillment- DCL Logistics","description":"How to have a successful peak season. Get a full list of predictions and what to expect shipping and fulfillment to be like for the holidays.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Planning for Peak Season: Trends in Ecommerce Fulfillment- DCL Logistics","og_description":"How to have a successful peak season. Get a full list of predictions and what to expect shipping and fulfillment to be like for the holidays.","og_url":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/supply-chain\/trends-predictions-holiday-ecommerce\/","og_site_name":"DCL Logistics","article_published_time":"2021-07-02T14:26:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-07-19T19:18:26+00:00","author":"Maureen Walsh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Maureen Walsh","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/supply-chain\/trends-predictions-holiday-ecommerce\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/supply-chain\/trends-predictions-holiday-ecommerce\/"},"author":{"name":"Maureen Walsh","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/#\/schema\/person\/310ca73aa55dd4ac955b95e62b9d3ce5"},"headline":"Holiday 2021 Planning Guide: Trends &#038; Predictions for Ecommerce Fulfillment\u00a0","datePublished":"2021-07-02T14:26:46+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-19T19:18:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/supply-chain\/trends-predictions-holiday-ecommerce\/"},"wordCount":1366,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Supply Chain"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/supply-chain\/trends-predictions-holiday-ecommerce\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/supply-chain\/trends-predictions-holiday-ecommerce\/","url":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/supply-chain\/trends-predictions-holiday-ecommerce\/","name":"Planning for Peak Season: Trends in Ecommerce Fulfillment- DCL Logistics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-07-02T14:26:46+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-19T19:18:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/#\/schema\/person\/310ca73aa55dd4ac955b95e62b9d3ce5"},"description":"How to have a successful peak season. Get a full list of predictions and what to expect shipping and fulfillment to be like for the holidays.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/supply-chain\/trends-predictions-holiday-ecommerce\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/supply-chain\/trends-predictions-holiday-ecommerce\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/supply-chain\/trends-predictions-holiday-ecommerce\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Holiday 2021 Planning Guide: Trends &#038; Predictions for Ecommerce Fulfillment\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/#website","url":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/","name":"DCL Logistics","description":"Logistics and Fulfillment Experts","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/#\/schema\/person\/310ca73aa55dd4ac955b95e62b9d3ce5","name":"Maureen Walsh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/92a8327f195b45b2998fbb72af53feaf6cd55207b691df23673cd0c3fc9dbb10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/92a8327f195b45b2998fbb72af53feaf6cd55207b691df23673cd0c3fc9dbb10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Maureen Walsh"},"url":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/author\/maureen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12410"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12454,"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12410\/revisions\/12454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}