Is Your Warehouse Ready to Black Friday?

No industry has ever changed as dramatically as retail after the rise of e-commerce. With stores are open 24/7 online, people are ready to purchase 24/7 as well. Moreover, customers now expect fast deliveries, smooth returns, flawless service, and instant visibility. And there’s no challenging test for meeting those demands successfully than major shopping events such as Black Friday.

Black Friday sales statistics show that 93.2 million buyers (about 40% of the total buyers) shopping online on Black Friday 2019 and online shopping sales hit $7.4 billion, which is an all-time high.  On Black Friday 2020, it is expected that the online shopping trend will grow to 61%.

The time is now to think about the two critical success factors in warehouse management so you can deliver a seamless performance under Black Friday’s pressure and gain a competitive advantage.

          1.   Optimizing of Warehouse Logistics:

As e-commerce continues to grow and the number of orders on Black Friday is growing each year, so does the pressure on the company’s warehouse logistics. Companies have two options to prepare for the future: constantly building new facilities or rather optimizing their existing buildings. To speed up the delivery and increase capacity, more and more companies rely on automated warehouse solutions. Compared to manual picking processes, automation combined with a Goods-to-Person work station achieves a pick rate improvement of up to 1,000 picks per hour with fewer employees while increasing fulfillment accuracy and improving inventory.

Even better, full automation in the warehouse is an exact game changer as it helps to organize priority orders, including same-day shipping. Also, return processes are easy and quick with automated tools: once an item is returned and checked for quality, it can be put back directly into the system for quick sales.

          2.   Helping Associates Adopt to Changes:

So far we talked about upgrading the technical performance. But the real success criterion for warehouse management tools is how they can help managers react preventively and deal with a rapidly changing environment.

To be ready for a critical event, warehouse managers probably have to:

  • Schedule available labor based on anticipated work levels
  • Operate the flow of orders to meet delivery plan
  • Coordinate with carriers
  • Minimize overtime work to meet budget
  • Provide real-time feedback and coaching to your teams throughout the day

Meeting all these challenges is basically about using technology to help warehouse associates adapt to a dynamic work environment. Warehouse management tools need to be highly automated to enable the associates to play a stronger, more efficient role and to be better engaged in the business by the reveal their abilities.

A peak season can bring many opportunities for the business. The best way to guarantee this is to experience it and to collect as much data as possible for the next year.  As LODAMASTER, we know that each company requires a unique solution. Our dedicated teams analyze your retail strategy and our extensive product portfolio combined with IT expertise offers customized solutions to meet your needs.

Get ready for next Black Friday with LODAMASTER!