Peak Season: 7 Ways to Ensure Products Are Delivered on Time

Delivering products on time is one of the measures of a company’s efficiency. Today, customers want their goods to be delivered to where they are and on time. Therefore, if you want to maintain a good reputation, especially during this peak season, you need to be able to fulfill your client’s needs efficiently.

Whether you’re shipping to other businesses or customers, delayed shipments can hurt customer relationships. The results from a recent study showed that 69% of consumers avoid shopping from a retailer after a late shipment. 

Because more competitors are joining the market every day and customer demands are increasing, you need to adjust to the market needs. Fortunately, there are many ways for you to ensure your products are delivered on time.

Prioritize fast-moving products

Consider using advanced analytics and business data to prioritize SKUs. This will ensure that you only have fast-moving products in your store. Stocking non-moving inventory will impact your bottom line by increasing the holding cost and loss of sales opportunities.

Keep a close eye on the internal processes

Have you discovered that some of your inbound materials are delivered damaged or late? Have you been consistently delivering products to some of your customers late? Sometimes, you may find that your suppliers or freight carriers are causing the late deliveries. Use your transport management system (TMS) to help you pinpoint which of your partners in the supply chain are causing the delays and work with them to fix this issue.

Ensure that your trucks are up to speed

If you have been actually delivering the products to your customers, then you have to ensure that your fleet of trucks is in good working condition. To do this, you have to get fleet maintenance software and take your trucks for tune-ups. Confirm that your trucks are fully operational before you load them up and transport products to your clients.

Be transparent and inform customers of any late deliveries

While informing your clients of anticipated disruptions in deliveries won’t stop delays, it’ll ease the impact of a negative business reputation. Using package tracking will help you warn customers of late deliveries. When you warn your clients, they can prepare to receive their products at a different time, which reduces inefficiencies.

Offer package tracking

When using third-party shippers, you may want to consider offering your clients package tracking. Although most small businesses consider this as granting more power to their customers, this technology will help you avoid guessing your package location. Your customers can also use the tracking number to see the location of their package and the duration it will take to get to them. 

What’s more, package tracking will prevent the package from getting lost.

Know your supplier’s timeliness

When you know your supplier’s methods and bottlenecks, you’ll be able to make better plans and meet your client’s demands. Assuming you have two substitutable products, where product A takes 20 days for production and product B takes 10 days, in such a case, you may consider placing an order for product B to increase shelf availability.

Partner with a reliable shipping company

There are many delivery services you can choose from, but this doesn’t mean you can rely on just any company. To begin with, you can try a few of them to determine which company works best. However, if you meet a reliable shipping company right away, then you can stick with them. When you partner with a trustworthy delivery company, your products will often make it to your customers on time.

Summing Up

On-time deliveries can make or break your business. This means meeting your client’s delivery requirements has to be a priority. During the peak season, most customers will give your company just one chance to get it right. If you don’t deliver goods as planned, then you risk losing good customers. Use the tips discussed above to avoid any hassles that may cause delays.