Pumpkin Spice season is here, marking the beginning of peak season 2023.
Peak demand season hits North America’s logistics network from August to November, leading into the busy holiday season. The busy season offers an opportunity for businesses to capitalize on high demand, with some business models completing most of their yearly orders in a few months.
For supply chain planning, goods must be available online, in storage, and on the shelves on time, with the correct levels distributed across the country. However, the combination of seasonal demand, with cyber sales, thanksgiving, and end-of-year holiday peaks, can cause some headaches for businesses that aren’t using digital tools for accuracy, scalability, and demand planning.
“For this, you need the right data and systems— that will allow you to scale up operations and daily output with ease and take advantage of the seasonal peaks,” said CartonCloud Head of North America/ COO Shaun Hagen.
Working closely with customers and industry partners throughout their expansion to North America in 2022, CartonCloud’s team often highlights the crucial role timing plays in the impact of tech implementation for SME businesses.
“Operators need to have the right system in place before peak season — or as soon as possible— to ensure they are capturing the maximum benefits of the software, and giving themselves the best chance at capitalizing on peak seasons,” Mr Hagen said.
Warehousers, 3PLs, and broader supply chain partners rely on accurate demand predictions to navigate early seasonal demand each year. Suppliers must plan ahead to navigate inventory and stock purchasing, warehousing, and distribution to make the season’s timing.
“So much of a business’ wasted overheads is to do with having inefficient operations,” Mr Hagen said.
“The surprising thing is that many businesses actually don’t realize how much time and money they are losing with the clunky or unsuitable systems they are using — because it’s the system they’ve always used, or because they are concerned about the hassles of switching.”
“Since CartonCloud entered the USA market early last year, we’ve had some incredibly insightful conversations with industry partners and customers — looking at the systems they’ve been using, and their expectations for setup and support,” he said.
“Ultimately, their expectations are too low — they believe a new system will take months to set up and get running, and more often than not, the support and customer service level they
receive is the reason they start looking for something better — which is when they come to us.
“Our software is designed by logistics people, for logistics people — with exceptional customer support and implementation that gets you up and running on the system — so you can start seeing results faster.
“For us, it’s all about our customer’s success — their business growth and satisfaction is paramount to everything we do, and it shows in their success and customer reviews”.
CartonCloud’s unique, integrated Warehouse and Transport software has been designed by logistics people, for logistics people — to help businesses streamline operations and scale up for seasons of high demand.
“To manage and plan for demand in logistics peak season, first, you need to know your customers’ needs, their seasonality, and expected sales/ demand over the peak season — and then ensure you have the right systems in place to prepare and achieve this,” explained Mr Hagen.
“Warehouse and Transport Management (WMS/TMS) software is the backbone of any logistics operations— but a cloud-based system gives you an edge, providing critical workflows, integrations, and constantly updated new features that let you do more, with less effort.
“No matter what size your business is, with the right systems in place, you can reduce manual data entry, reduce mistakes, and increase your day-to-day profit.”
Mr Hagen said logistics operators should be looking to automate online ordering with e-commerce integrations, access and assign orders for picking from a WMS and TMS with a mobile app to ensure accuracy at each step, and ultimately streamline data at every stage of your operation.
CartonCloud is top-rated by users across the globe, and listed as a top WMS and TMS supplier again in 2023 due to its ease of use, intuitive design, and exceptional customer service delivered by logistics experts.
High-performing logistics operators are using innovative technology to capitalize on high demand and see better ROI this peak season.
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With CartonCloud’s easy-to-use— yet powerful — WMS and TMS you can leave the technical side to us. With a cloud-based warehouse and transport management system, you can also enjoy the benefits of (SaaS) software as a service. This means access to our friendly support team and knowledge base to answer any questions you have, or log any issues.
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