Fra Black Friday til Black Week: Er dit lager forberedt?
18/10/2022
Author
Christian Mikkelsen, CCO
Get Ready for Black Week
Is Your Warehouse Ready for Black Friday? Or Should We Just Skip Ahead to the Extended Black Week Concept?
The American phenomenon Black Friday has, in recent years, truly made its mark on Danes. In fact, so much so that the crazy deals on this annual Friday in late November have turned into a whole week of shopping madness under the name Black Week. The deals provide an opportunity to significantly increase the quantity of Christmas gifts or self-indulgence, all while sticking to the same budget – and Danes see value in that.
What’s even more remarkable is that Black Week shopping is increasingly happening from the comfort of Danish living rooms. Online shopping has never been easier, but this means immense pressure on e-commerce businesses in the weeks leading up to, during, and just after Black Friday.
If you run a webshop, you’re obviously keeping up with the trend, offering fantastic Black Week or Black Friday deals – and they’re being clicked home in a big way.
Why is it important to prepare your warehouse for Black Week?
When Black Friday in 2021 turned into Black Week, more than DKK 3.2 billion worth of goods were sold online throughout the week*. The numbers for online shopping during Black Week had never been higher than in 2021.
This leads to the prediction that this trend will continue to rise. Even though the restrictions of the COVID-19 crisis, which gave a huge boost to e-commerce, are now behind us – knock on wood – Danes’ preference for shopping online has not diminished*.
Who would choose to stand in line at a store on a dark November day when they can sit on the couch and click their way to great deals?
So we ask you: Is your warehouse prepared?
The heavy pressure of Black Week on e-commerce businesses is especially evident in the warehouse. This is where items need to be picked, packed, and shipped at full speed during and after the thousands of Danes place their online orders.
guide
Prepare your webshop for the future – Leading experts in the industry give advice
7 Good Tips to Prepare Your Warehouse for Black Week
We have no doubt that your website is fully optimized and ready to handle the traffic, and that your marketing strategy is in place to sell a lot of products to the many Danish bargain hunters.
That’s why we want to provide some useful tips on how to prepare the very core of distribution from order to delivery – namely, the warehouse. At Apport, we asked some experts with years of experience in e-commerce for their advice on getting the warehouse ready for the big sales week, Black Week.
With these tips, your warehouse can be Black Week ready, and we recommend keeping them in mind as a checklist before Black Week hits. Below, we dive into each piece of advice, so you can be sure exactly where and how to prepare your warehouse.
In summary, the advice is:
- Set clear goals
- Optimize your warehouse
- Prepare for increased collaboration across the organization
- Strategically place your products
- Ensure adequate staffing and employee care
- Manage your supply
- Think through the return process
1. Set Clear Goals
Hover over to read more about Tip 1.
1. Set Clear Goals
Without a clear goal, it’s impossible to plan and prepare your warehouse for Black Friday. According to Martin Pedersen, Warehouse Manager at Creativ Company, it's essential to set a budget target for the warehouse and be ready to handle this capacity. Relying on routine won’t be enough, as most operations will be overwhelmed.
“If you expect to process 30,000 more order lines per week than usual, you can then assess what’s required to handle this in your warehouse,” says Martin Pedersen, Warehouse Manager at Creativ Company.
Black Week falls close to the holiday season, compressing Christmas shopping into a shorter period. This makes it crucial for e-commerce businesses to prepare their warehouses and staff to be fully equipped to fulfill orders promptly during the holiday rush.
2. Optimize Your Warehouse
Hover over to read more about Tip 2.
2. Optimize Your Warehouse
According to Andreas Feltsen, Supply Chain Specialist at Imerco, it is incredibly important to have an optimized warehouse when the biggest shopping week of the year kicks off and culminates on Black Friday. The warehouse must ensure that goods arrive in good time to minimize challenges with receiving shipments when things get busy.
“It’s all about embedding the routines as best as possible beforehand,” says Andreas Feltsen, Supply Chain Specialist at Imerco.
Optimizing the warehouse is also about maintaining a great customer experience. Warehouse staff must ensure that customers aren’t disappointed by sold-out items. “If a particular product is expected to sell exceptionally well, make sure you have enough stock, and likewise, ensure that this product is strategically placed in relation to picking locations,” says Andreas Feltsen.
3. Prepare for Increased Collaboration Within the Organization
Hover over to read more about Tip 3.
3. Prepare for Increased Collaboration Within the Organization
A key factor in handling Black Week is collaboration. According to Kristian Søgaard, General Manager at Coolshop, it is impossible to maintain good service and standard delivery times without cross-departmental cooperation throughout the organization.
For the warehouse to keep up with the increased pace, it’s crucial that the warehouse team knows what is being marketed and when, allowing them to continuously optimize picking routes.
“It’s no good having a fantastic Black Week or Black Friday deal if the product is located in the farthest warehouse section – we’ll just end up exhausting ourselves. We must always ensure that picking is optimized to the fullest,” says Kristian Søgaard, General Manager at Coolshop.
4. Place Your Products Strategically
Hover over to read more about Tip 4.
4. Place Your Products Strategically
Yes, we really can’t emphasize this enough. Kristian Søgaard from Coolshop makes a crucial point about considering product placement leading up to Black Week through collaboration across the organization.
Naturally, the promotional items will typically be the main focus of many orders during Black Week. Therefore, it’s advantageous to be strategic about where products are placed, even though you can never fully predict which items will be the top sellers.
5. Ensure Adequate Staffing and Employee Care
Hover over to read more about Tip 5.
5. Ensure Adequate Staffing and Employee Care
An obvious but incredibly important piece of advice is to ensure that there is enough staffing during Black Week, on Black Friday itself, and in the following days when orders will be shipping out at full speed. Staffing needs should be considered based on the goals your company has set for Black Week.
Should we bring in extra hands from outside or from other departments in the company to assist in the warehouse? Should we have both a day shift and a night shift to meet our targets?
It can be an exciting and unique time, even with the extra work and pace in the warehouse. Spread joy and create a positive atmosphere within the organization. This could include providing extra treats and refreshments for the hard-working staff to keep energy levels high. It could also be an incentive, like an event to celebrate and unwind after Black Week, something for the employees to look forward to during the busy period.
6. Manage Your Supply Chain Effectively
Hover over to read more about Tip 6.
6. Manage Your Supply Chain Effectively
Prepare by covering the entire supply chain. This means coordinating with all links in the chain so they are also ready for the expected influx of orders. This includes working with your carriers. It’s great if your warehouse can keep up during Black Week, but if there’s no coordination with the carriers, customers may still have to wait to receive their packages.
Every link in the supply chain is interconnected, and fast processing at the warehouse won't matter in terms of customer satisfaction if there’s no space in the delivery truck. That’s why it’s crucial to factor the entire supply chain into your Black Week planning.
7. Think Through the Return Process
Hover over to read more about Tip 7.
7. Think Through the Return Process
The final tip we recommend checking off before entering Black Week is to have a well-thought-out return process. With the large volume of orders, there will typically be a portion returned by customers who no longer want the product.
The return process—like many others—centers around the warehouse. That's why it's essential to consider how you'll handle the influx of returned items after Black Week, in terms of staffing, processes, and time management. Preparing for this ensures smooth operations and helps maintain customer satisfaction post-Black Week.
Ready, Set, Black Week!
So, there are 7 key points you can check off to ensure your warehouse is fully prepared and ready for Black Week. It’s our clear assessment that the warehouse should always be considered and prioritized—especially in the lead-up to major shopping events like Black Week.
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Would you like help optimizing your workflows and streamlining your warehouse operations?
Christian Mikkelsen
CCO, Apport Systems
E: [email protected]
T: +45 4177 6304
Christian Mikkelsen
CCO, Apport Systems
E: [email protected]
T: +45 4177 6304
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