The Holiday Retail Season and Its Impact on the Supply Chain

The holiday season is in full swing. It’s hard to believe that in less than 10 days, we’ll be off celebrating Christmas! This time of year is peak season for many industries and the retail industry is first to come to mind – especially when you try to navigate a mall parking lot. A lot of people try to avoid the mall madness and opt for ordering gifts online. In my 2017 blog, Supply Chain 101, you can find a run down of what happens the moment you click purchase to the delivery of your package.

Freight Waves’ Layla Rapp looks at how the holidays impact the supply chain. Rapp notes, “60% of consumers have abandoned purchases with a retailer because of slow delivery times.” Our instant gratification culture and last-minute nature has shifted holiday shopping. See the Freight Waves infographic below:

A 4.5% increase in packages from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day means the supply chain is working in overdrive to get everything delivered. You may have seen this viral video of a delivery person celebrating the kind gesture of a consumer gifting the driver snacks to take as they continued the rest of their deliveries for the day. These little steps taken to thank those in the logistics industry who are working hard to keep the gear of the supply chain moving are appreciated. Remember – when Santa can’t deliver, truck drivers can.  Spreading the holiday cheer to delivery drivers and trucker drivers alike goes a long way!

Thank you for reading and Happy Holidays.

All the Best,

Jeff Beckham