For many businesses, the holiday season represents a make-or-break moment.

While the increase in orders can be exciting, the race to keep up with them can bring up a number of issues for both your business and 3PL. These holiday logistics failures—ranging from inventory issues to carrier delays—can ruin even the best-laid plans.

However, if you understand and prepare for these circumstances, you can smoothly navigate the holiday season and create long-term customer relationships.

That’s why we’re breaking down four reasons why your holiday logistics and what you can do to prevent it.

Failure 1: Delays Due to Inventory Errors

When it comes to the chaos of the holiday season, every little detail counts—especially in your inventory. Inaccuracies in your inventory can cause delays that cascade through your entire supply chain. White it may seem like a small issue, even one misplaced item can leave you with countless dissatisfied customers.

Solution

To prevent these delays, it’s important to make inventory accuracy a priority. Before the holidays, conduct a physical inventory count or cycle count and keep your warehouse management system up to date. This will give you a solid foundation for the beginning of the season. It’s also crucial that you keep this information up to date throughout the holidays so you don’t risk promoting a product you’ve managed to sell out of and create delays.

Failure 2: Last-Minute Staffing Challenges

During the holidays, your 3PL relies on their staff more than ever. With the chaos caused by the increase in orders and quick turnarounds, it’s crucial to have a well-trained and well-supported staff. Understaffing or relying on untrained staff can lead to slower operations, more errors, and less overall efficiency.

Solution

Again, creating a reliable and efficient staff can help ensure your business can stay on top of deadlines and meet customer expectations. Your 3PL should begin hiring seasonal workers early enough that they will have time to be trained before the rush of the season begins. Likewise, they should create flexibility in their workforce through cross-training so they can quickly reassign staff as needed throughout the holidays. This strategy reduces the chance of mistakes and speeds up processing times.

Failure 3: Shipping Mishaps and Carrier Shortfalls

The holidays aren’t just busy for your business; they also impact the capacity of carriers. With more products being shipped during this time of year, carriers often experience capacity restraints that can cause shipping delays or increased costs for your 3PL or business.

Solution

You can mitigate this logistics failure by creating and optimizing a shipping strategy ahead of time. Coordinate early on with your carriers and 3PL to ensure you book enough capacity to help you smoothly navigate the holiday season. You can also test different carriers beforehand to save on shipping costs while ensuring customers receive their packages on time.

Failure 4: Disconnect Between Sales and Operations

You can’t sell products you don’t have. When there is a disconnect between sales and operations, it can be unclear what products you still have available—meaning your sales team may then launch a holiday promotion and create an influx of orders for something you can’t readily fulfill. This leads to delays in shipping and frustrated customers.

Solution

Communication is key during the holidays. Ensure that your sales, operations, and supply chain teams are all on the same page before and throughout the season to help prevent disconnections and miscommunication. When sales promotions do happen, communicate with your 3PL ahead of time so they can make sure they have enough resources to handle the spike in demand without causing any unnecessary delays.

The holidays don’t have to be chaotic. By preparing for these common logistics challenges, you’ll not only avoid common pitfalls such as delays and extra costs—but also set your business up for success.

And, that success is what helps turn new customers into repeat customers—which is critical to the long-term success of your business. Ready to start preparing? Download our free holiday logistics checklist to ensure every step of your operations is covered.