For Parcel Shippers, It’s Never Too Early to Prepare for the Holidays

While it’s still August, the end of Q3 is just around the corner. If you’re a parcel shipper, that can only mean one thing: Your busiest season — the holiday season — is coming up fast. 

At Redwood, we don’t want to be “that person” who starts hanging Christmas lights or playing holiday carols before your summer tan lines have faded. But the truth is, you can significantly boost your holiday service outcomes and your delivery reliability by thinking about your parcel shipping schedule now. 

This year, an early start is particularly important. Because Thanksgiving is late this year — falling on November 28 — shippers have far fewer days to fulfill orders between Black Friday and Christmas than in recent years. In fact, we’re facing the most condensed holiday shipping season since 2019. 

Here at Redwood — just like the elves in Santa’s workshop — we’re already busy helping customers lay the foundation for holiday shipping success. How? By collaborating with logistics teams to “reverse engineer” their supply chains, so they can land those crucial deliveries in time for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Eve. 

It’s time to look ahead and assess your labor availability, product inventories and other resources. Make sure you’re ready for peak order volumes in your specific business and industry. Look at your fulfillment lead times. Check with your carriers about drop-dead dates. Start recruiting new seasonal employees, if needed. Arrive at reasonable “order-by, get-by” customer promises that you’ll be able to reliably meet. 

It’s also essential to have a contingency plan. Do you have alternate suppliers and carriers in place? Are you preparing for extreme weather by building in reasonable buffers? What disruptions are likely to occur — and how can you identify them at the earliest opportunity, then respond in an optimal way? 

Set the Stage for Holiday Happiness Now

If all this preparation feels overwhelming — especially when the leaves haven’t even fallen yet — then you can always turn to Redwood for hands-on help. Each year, Redwood’s Parcel Advisory team helps customers navigate the complexities of parcel shipping as a trusted advisor thinking about long-term supply chain goals as well as short-term holiday shipping considerations already have the resources in place to get your shipments out the door and delivered on time.   

Whether you need technology to support parcel execution or business intelligence to gain insights into your parcel shipping patterns, Redwood Parcel Advisory can help optimize your holiday shipping activities for cost and service, starting now. From peak holiday shipping volumes to everyday order fulfillment, our experts have “been there and done that” when it comes to parcel shipping optimization. They know exactly what you need to do now to be adequately prepared for the holiday rush.  

At Redwood, we understand your challenges. You have a lot of other priorities right now. But it’s crucial to start looking toward the holiday season, gathering shipping schedules from carriers, and ensuring you have all the resources you need to delight holiday shoppers. We’re here to help you prepare for the most wonderful time of the year. Over the coming weeks, Redwood’s team of experts will share tips and tricks to help you navigate the holiday season of parcel shipping. Stay tuned for our list of holiday shipping best practices that'll make this season merry and bright! 

Contact us and let’s get started!