How To Prepare for a “More Normal” Peak Season This Year

After all this disruption, how do you deal with ‘normal’?

Will you be able to cope effectively with the ‘more normal’ peak season that’s predicted within our sector this year? Will things suddenly change again? What does ‘normal’ even mean, and is your fashion and clothing business prepared for it?

Ultimately, when we talk about ‘normal’ we mean a return to a familiar pattern. It is selling seasonal stock and using couriers and other delivery channels that aren’t nearly as overwhelmed - last year’s photos of stacks and stacks of parcels at delivery hubs haven’t faded from memory just yet.

It’s also a return to omni-channel retailing as well as a sense of normality with discounting.

But perhaps most importantly, the next few months ahead will also mean a return to a heavy peak sales season and a post-peak recovery period. 

Are We Returning to the Cyclical Nature of Fashion Retailing?

A return to normal means doing everything you can in the waning off-season to prepare yourself for the peak season.

Here’s some advice on what you can do now while there’s still time.

Create a ‘must do’ list – think about all the critical tasks that need to be done before peak season kicks off. Fulfilment, order processing, returns. Preparing for a more normal peak season means lots of preparation, just like any other year.

Conduct a post-peak review – it’s vital to discuss all the glitches and snags that occurred over the peak season last year and think about how they can be overcome in advance, especially when you aren’t spending all your energy firefighting. There are still a few weeks to go.

Review your processes and training, especially for temporary, seasonal staff – staff shortages are affecting every industry. Are you offering compelling wages and employment packages for those who will be at the forefront of customer satisfaction? 

Really assess your capacity - warehousing, fulfilment, customer service, marketing – the lot. Where will your bottlenecks be? What can be done to relieve those bottlenecks now? 

Finally, perhaps it’s time to consider a new fulfilment model to ease pressures on central warehousing.

The Ship from Store model has worked for Matalan, so perhaps it can work for you too. Underpinned by technology from ShipStation, this innovative approach to fashion retailing can help high street retailers and those with large retail estates transform their brick-and-mortar stores into ecommerce-supporting-champions. 

The benefits from utilising your in-store stock through Ship from Store include:

• Higher overall sales
• Faster delivery
• Improved stock control
• More sustainable operations
• Better customer satisfaction

Whatever you decide to do to prepare for a more ‘normal’ peak, the time to act is now. Prepare for every eventuality. Keep speaking to customers. Take a breath. Start selling.