The2017EasyPost HolidayGuide

Transkript

1 The2017EasyPost HolidayGuide 120 KEARNEYST,SUITE#400,SANFRANCISCO,CALIFORNIA,94108

2 Introduction Theholidays.Theseasonthatrepresentsaround25%percentofyourannualrevenue, alcompactedintoathree-monthlongstretchthatwiltesteverybusinessprocess thatcomprisesyourbrand.it satimetolookforwardto,sinceyou lbeseeingalotof revenuefrom alotofnew customersthatyoucancultivateloyaltywith.it salsoa timetobewary,sinceonesupply-chainsnafucanendangerthousandsoforders andyourbrand sreputation. Asuccessfulholidayseasonalwaysincludestwothings-wel-doneadvance planningandorganizationalsynchronization.youhavetomodeleverything,from sta ingrequirementstototalexpectedorders,andcreateactionable,scalable,and quickcontingenciesifeventsdeviatefrom themodel.ontopofthat,your operationalandsalesmodelshavetomatchupperfectly,otherwiseyou reeither goingtohurtyourbrandviastockoutsorwastemoneyonextraproducts,labor,and packaging. AtEasyPost,we reprojectedtoprocessover20 milionshipmentsthisholidayseason, whichisa15%increasefrom our2016holidayvolume.withalofthosepackages runningthroughoursystem,we reinauniquepositiontoseewhatworksandwhat doesn t.from there,wecanalsorelyonthedecadesofcolectiveexperienceour team hasinshippingandfulfilmenttofindscalablesolutionstothemostcommon holidayoperationsproblems. Sowe vegotentogetherandcreatedour2017easypostholidayguidewitha specificfocusonhow tosetyourbusinessoperationsupforsuccess.we vedivided theguideintofivesectionsthatfocusonthemainkeystobuildingafoundationfora successfulholidayseason: I.EveryForecastMaters I.PositionYourTeam ForSuccess I.HaveAPlanBForEverything IV.PrepareaBeterReturnsProcessNow V.TakeNotes,TrackData 1

3 Forecastingtheoperationalresourcesyou lneed-labor,packaging,warehouse capacity,production-wilaldependonthemodelsthatyoursales/marketingand financeteamscreatefirst.youcan tplanaheadonlaborcostsifyoudon thave reliableestimatesonprojectedordertotals. Ofcourse,eventhoughforecastingisextremelyquantitative,it sstilmoreofanart thanascience.sure,it spossibletocreateaperfectforecast,butit simpossibleto findaconsistentwaytocreatethem.asyoubuildyourforecasts,youhaveto rememberthesethreethings: Establishasolidbaseline EveryForecastMaters Assemblestrongreferencepointssuchasyear-over-yeargrowth,previousyear performance,andoveralmarkettrends.colatethem toestablishastrongbaseline thatprovidesreasonableexpectationsthatalteamscanoperatefrom.trynottobe tooaggressiveorconservative,andrealyfocusonthefactorsyoutrust.forecasts tendtobecomeinaccuratewhennew factorsareoveremphasized. Beveryhonestwithyourprojections Wealhaveexpectationsgoingintotheholidayseason.There snothingwrongwith beingaggressiveorconservativewithyourholidaystrategy,butyourprojections shouldn treflectanybiasesorfeelingsyouhaveaboutyourfutureperformance.the projectionsshouldbestrictlydatadriven,withalfactorsweightedwithinreason.it s veryeasytoletyourbiasesseepintoyourforecasts,butthat show forecastsendup beinguselessspreadsheetsinsteadofactionablenumbersthatyoucanbaseyour holidayprocesseson. Continuetoupdateforecaststhroughouttheholidayseason Don tjustbesatisfiedwithyouroriginalforecastnumbers.whenyouactualystart shippingorders,you lgetmuchmorevaluabledatathatcanhelprefineaprevious projection.ifthingsaretrendingupordown,revisetheprojectionandalofthe operationstiedtoit.itdoesn tmakesensetocontinuouslyholdfaithtopre-holiday projectioniftheholidaysthemselvesdon tholdtruetothem. Forecastingisn tanexactscience.tryingtodraw firm predictionsfrom achaotic shoppingseasonrequiresalotofgroundedthinkingandconsistentgut checking.maintainadata-drivenapproachandbeflexible.thegoalis tofindaprojectionthatstaysreasonablyclosetoactualresults, notaprojectionthathitsperfectlysothatyoumaximize demandandminimizecost.aimingfortheformer givesyouamuchbetershotata successfulholidayseason. 2

4 PositionYourTeam ForSuccess Successissimplytheresultofleveragingopportunity,andopportunitybenefitsthose who repreparedtotakeit.everyecommercebusinessinq4hasanopportunityto achievegrowth,butonlythosewhopreparetheirteamsforsuccesswilachieveit. Wetookaholidayperformancesurveyandfoundthreecommonthemesfrom our customers.theyalrevolvearoundonecoretruth-agoodholidayexperiencefor thecustomerisultimatelygetingtheirproductontimeandwithouthassle.the folowingthreekeysaresomeofthemoste ectivewaystoensurethat: Keepeverybodyintheloop(56%ofEasyPostcustomers) Cross-departmentalcommunicationiscrucialtoholidaysuccess.Marketingshould alwaysbeup-to-dateonoperationalsituations,especialyiftheyplanonincluding last-minutepromotionstopushmoredemandthanyouroperationsmaybeableto support.now,morethananyothertimeoftheyear,requiresabusinessinsync. Handleyoursta ingneedsnow (73%ofEasyPostcustomers) Don tjustassumethatyoucanfindhelpifit sneeded.assoonasyourholiday forecastingisdone,determineifyouhaveenoughfulfilmentcapabilitiestohandle yourprojectedholidayorders.whetheryou rehandlingyourfulfilment/support in-houseorwithapartner,ensurethatthesta involvedwilbereadytohandlethe influxofdemandbeforeithits. Automateasmanyprocessesaspossible(44%ofEasyPostcustomers) Ofcourse,theholidayseasonalsocomeswiththetemptationtoaddextraflourishes toyourpackagingorkitingtoappealtoconsumers.stil,youhavetorememberthat yourdemandwilbeconstantandyourcustomer spatiencewilbelimited.ifyour operationsteam canhandlesuchflourishes,thenit syourdecision.however,it s inarguablethataddingmorecomplexitiestoyouroperationswiladdmoreriskof erors.themoreyou reabletosimplifyandautomate,themorelikelyyou lbeable topushoutordersreliablyandquickly. 3

5 HaveA PlanBForEverything Partofholidaypreparationisensuringgoodbackupplanswhenthingsgowrong. Theholidayseasonismuchtoovaluabletoyourbusinesstoletyourstrategyrunon goodfaith.itneedsguardrailstoaccountforworst-casescenarios. Forinstance,inclementweathercanshutdownafulfilmentcenterorwaylaya carier.onewaytomitigatethisriskistospreadinventoryacrossmultiplefulfilment centers,soifonegetsknockedouttemporarily,orderscanstilbefulfiledfrom others. Youcanuserushshippingtoensureproductswilariveinareasonabletime(most customersexpecttheirproductswithinaweek). Acarierrefusingservicebecauseofoverloadcanalsoputascreechinghalton youroperations.it simportanttohavebackupcariersincaseyourprimarypartner isn tabletotakeupanymorepackagesforyou,especialyifit sduringblackfriday orcybermonday.inthisinstance,we drecommendthatyouestablishrelationships withsecondaryandtertiarycariersnow.ifit sinapinch,youcanalsoleverage shippingapislikeeasyposttoconnecttoregionalcariersiftheordersaren tgoing toofarfrom thefulfilmentcenter. Asyouform yourbackupplans,it sextremelyimportanttoensurethateveryone involved-from yourcoo tothesta ontheground-arewelawareofal contingenciesthatyouinstalfortheholidayseason.itdoesn tmaterhow welyou craftyourcontingenciesiftheexecutiondoesn thappen. Backupplanscouldbethedi erencebetweenasuccessfulholidayandapainful one.trytoidentifywhereyouroperationscouldbeweakened,andimplement processestodefendagainsttheunexpected. 4

6 PrepareaGreatReturnPolicyNow Therearetwostatisticsthatrevolvearoundtheimportanceofagoodreturnpolicy. 24%ofcustomersexpecttoreturnorexchangeatleastoneofthegiftstheyreceived. 95%ofcustomerswilshopwithabusinessagainiftheironlinereturnsprocessis convenient. Theholidaysaren tjustyourbiggestsalesperiodoftheyear,it salsoaprecursorto thebiggestreturnsperiodoftheyear.havingagoodreturnpolicyisahugedriverin maintainingcustomerloyalty,andagoodreturnpolicyisonlyasgoodasthe operationsbehindthem. It stoughtosqueezeinpreparationforreturnswhenyouroperationswilalreadybe atfulthrotletomeetthequeueofoutgoingorders.stil,itwilsaveyouatonof headacheifyouprepareforthewaveofreturnsnow.thatway,youcan confidentlymoveforwardwithareturnpolicythatdrivesmoresales,knowingthat you lmaintainthesamegreatexperienceforreturnsasyoudoforsales. We veincludedabasicframeworkbelow thatyoucanbuildorcustomizetofityour business: 1.Receivingteam receivesreturnandinspectsthesefourvalues: a.whoreturnedtheshipment? b.whichproductshavebeenreceived? c.whatconditionaretheproductsin? d.dotheproductsmatchtheoriginalorder? 2.Receivingteam verifiesreturn.returnpolicydictatesrefund,credit,or replacement. 3.Receivingoroperationsteam recyclesitem backintostockdependingon conditionofproduct. Ofcourse,therearetonofuniquedi erencesthatyou lhavetoaddontothat frameworktomakeitworkforyourbusiness.themainpurposeofreverselogistics istoretainvaluewhilesimultaneouslyprovidingcustomersatisfaction.aslongasyou keepwithinthecoreconceptsofthisframework,yourreturnspolicyshould provideboth. 5

7 TakeNotes,TrackData Theonlywaytoimproveuponyourholidayperformanceistotakestockof shortcomingsandine icienciesfrom theyearbefore.itmakesperfectsensetokeep arunninglogthathighlightsareasofimprovementforyourbusiness.holiday successprovidesthefoundationformanybusinessestogrow,whichmakesit importanttokeepimprovingwitheachyear. Somethingstokeepaneyeonlogisticalyastheholidayseasonisinfulswing: 1.OrderFilRates 2.TechnologyUptime 3.Folow ThroughonCarrierCommitments 4.AveragePriceofShipping 5.AverageCostofLabor 6.Ine icientprocesses 7.AverageTimetoProcessReturns Oncetheholidaysareoverandthedataiscolected,doapost-mortem withyour team toidentifypainpointsandine iciencies,andworktoaddressthem beforethe nextholidayseason.thebeteryougetatthis,themoregrowthyoucansqueeze from futureholidayrushes. Onelastpointofemphasisistheindentificationofprocessautomation.Youshould takeeveryopportunitytoautomatewheneveryoucan,especialywhenthingscalm downandit seasiertoimplementnew technologyorprocesses.automationishow youcanincreaseproductivity,e iciency,andreliability.ifyouidentifypotential pointsofautomationnow,you ldefinitelybeinmuchbetershapetotakeonanew rushoforderswhenthenextholidayseasonrolsaround. Andremember,whenthisisalover,know thatyou ldefinitelydeserveyour Christmasfeastattheendofital.Withalthepreparationandworkyou reaboutto putin,you lbeinabeterpositiontosucceednow thaneverbefore.gooutthere andkilit! 6

8 Support& Resources AccountExecutive JilianVoege SignUpforaFreeEasyPostAccount htps:// GetingStartedGuide htps:// FulReferenceAPI htps:// EasyPostBusinessLibrary htps://