Tips to Get Your eCommerce Business Ready for Christmas Peak Trading 2021
It may only be the second quarter of the year and summer has yet to grace us with its presence, however we here at Mosaic are already busy in our warehouses getting ready for the Christmas ecommerce rush. With Christmas Peak Trading Season arriving earlier and earlier each year, there has never been a better time to consider how your ecommerce business or trading arm could benefit from outsourced ecommerce fulfillment and customer automation processes.
Our experience in 2020 was that Christmas Peak Trading started earlier than usual, possibly due to the twin impacts of Brexit and Covid-19. Brisk trading started building up from July with the arrival of Christmas stock in our warehouses. By September onwards we were very much in full swing – a good month sooner than usual.
Whilst of course it is difficult to predict whether 2021 will follow the same pattern as 2020 given that 2020 was an unusual year to say the least, we here at Mosaic are nevertheless anticipating an early start to Peak Trading again in 2021. 2020 taught our clients that the early bird took the ecommerce worm and it seems businesses are planning their ecommerce fulfilment and customer response strategies early again this year to avoid missing out. At Mosaic, we already know that Christmas stock is heading into our warehouses earlier than during pre-Covid times. We have already planned for this, and so should any business or organisation who wants to flourish.
So, why does your business or organisation need fulfilment and automated customer response services?
In short, ecommerce fulfilment solutions can help your business thrive and grow in a world where consumer behaviour has switched from offline. We at Mosaic can release you from the time-consuming processes of ecommerce fulfilment and customer response so that you can concentrate on growing your business instead.
Customer retail behaviour switched to online overnight during Covid of course, with latest studies suggesting that this change is likely to be permanent. Market research company Nielsen stated in a recent You.Gov survey commissioned by The Drum that online purchasing behaviour had become ‘indelible’ (see article here.)
Online shopping platform Shopify interviewed over 25 industry leaders, investors and commerce experts recently and discovered five trends which are shaping retail and ecommerce.
Their report can be summarised as follows:
"Ecommerce is at an all-time high. Lockdowns, travel bans, and retail closures forced the consumer online, and the world’s largest retailers soon followed, in some cases selling direct to consumer (DTC) for the first time. But not all ecommerce newcomers had the infrastructure in place to deliver a world-class customer experience.
One way DTC brands are standing out in a crowded ecommerce space is through automated shipping and fulfillment. Orders must have fast, free, and sustainable shipping. And the unboxing video phenomenon has caused DTC companies to invest in custom branded packaging.
To better compete with marketplaces and retail giants, brands are also investing in richer, more personalized experiences. Humanizing their brand also aids in customer retention, now a top priority as acquisition costs rise, along with uncertainty in digital advertising."
Shopify – please see here for full report.
Stand out from the eCommerce trading crowd
Delivering excellent customer experience and delighting the online customer has never been more important to a business’s success. Standing out from the ecommerce trading crowd is fundamental to business survival and growth. Customer experience and satisfaction is increasingly king. For this to happen, products need to be:
- stored securely
- picked, packed and labelled accurately
- and dispatched to the customer in a timely, efficient and cost-efficient manner
Whether you are a commercial business or charity organization Mosaic can deliver all of this and more. We have:
- a Global 100 award for the best call handling contact service
- we can take orders and handle your returns seamlessly
- we can bank payments securely and thank your customers
- we can print on demand, including labels, virtual gift cards, information packs and flyers
- we have soil association certification and use sustainable packaging solutions wherever possible
- our economies of scale and competitive courier partners mean that you can save on your postage costs
- and we can provide a truly positive unboxing experience, including building bespoke subscription box kits and information/gift packs– something we do for several high profile clients!
We know that providing a smooth, pain-free client journey is crucial for your business’s acquisition and retention strategy. Our services anticipate and smooth out the spikes and we support you every step of the way as your business experiences growth pains.
Happy customers, of course, lead to great ratings and reviews:
- For nearly 9 in 10 consumers, an online review is as important as a personal recommendation
- Customers are likely to spend 31% more if a business has ‘excellent’ reviews
- 72% say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more
- 92% of users will use a local business if it has at least a 4-star rating. Source: www.entrepreneur.com
“Businesses whose pages have 1-star on Customer Review sites are often peppered with comments from customers about delivery delays, incorrect orders, damaged goods, poor communication and slow returns.
At Mosaic we understand how businesses and organisations often have too many plates to spin. Unfortunately it’s a harsh marketplace and dropping just one plate can have a detrimental impact on your reputation and success. Mosaic’s innovative range of tech-driven processes slice through the time-consuming and costly jobs you hate, leaving you with delighted customers, great reviews and able to concentrate on growing your business instead of navigating obstacles.
Online shopping and customer response automation was already on the cards in 2019. Post pandemic, it is clear providing a smooth, seamless ecommerce customer experience at every touchpoint of their journey is here to stay. Economic experts McKinsey confirmed in their recent report that the shift to online retail is real, and it is here to stay. The first half of 2020 saw an increase in ecommerce equivalent to that of the previous ten years. If your business or organization is not online and growing, it is likely that your business or organization is declining in strength.”
Duncan Marrison
Chief Executive Officer
Need an outsourced order fulfilment service that helps your company grow?
Join the online brands who trust Mosaic with their order fulfilment and client response services.
- Designed for brands taking 1,000+ orders per month. We also have a sister company for smaller volumes
- Outsource warehousing, pick and pack, shipping and returns
- Handle rapidly increasing order volumes more efficiently
- Bespoke customer call centre services including telephone orders, banking and thanking, print on demand, collating packs, virtual gifts, subscription boxes (we will also build them), customer returns and more
- Storage, pick & pack and shipping
- You benefit from our economies of scale on courier costs
- We do the things you hate!
- We tailor our solutions to fit your business so you only pay for the parts you need
- Reclaim your time and reduce your costs
If your company is struggling to find the right ecommerce fulfilment and business automation solutions, then there has never been a better time to think about how to make your ecommerce business run smoother, delight your customers and thrive as a business!
