With online consumerism incrementally claiming the high-street commerce landscape, Black Friday has morphed from being solely a high street melee to quickly become a widely recognised e-commerce event within the UK’s shifting retail eco-system.
That does not mean that black Friday is an event now exclusive to the realms of online retail, many shops, whether it be online, or on the high-street in the UK, will succumb to offering ‘sales’ to consumers on 23rd November 2018.
Momentum has already begun, with the usual massive discounters making a name for themselves amongst a variety of retailers offering the best deals, and brave enough to compete with the Black Friday Giant that is Amazon.
Having radically changed the way people shop in the run-up to Christmas; and following on from 2017, and the success of the retail rigmarole that is keen consumers bidding for a bargain; predictions are already being made, surrounding the holiday hype or maybe havoc, that will be unleashed in-store on Black Friday 2018.
Now recognised as an established retail event within its own right, whilst also leading up to, and associated with Cyber Monday – just what exactly are some of the effects of this ecommerce economy on the supply chain, especially for such a popular retail event as Black Friday?
This Black Friday, with shoppers purchasing via multiple channels – logisticians worldwide are stocking up, securing distribution network capacity, and carefully preparing their warehouses for the predetermined retail-rush.
Encompassing every stage of the retail cycle, from purchase and transaction through to collection, delivery and returns; it is vital for retailers to liaise with manufacturers and suppliers, to ensure they have the right stock before a big retail event like Black Friday.
The convenience of shopping online opens a window of opportunity for retailers and consumers alike, with many incentives offered for shoppers including the redemption of unique ‘one off’ promotions and limited-time offers on Christmas gifts; with clothing and electronics usually the most frequent popular purchases.
Yet, this convenience can also pose challenges, not only in terms of outbound logistics operations, but also in the form of returns. Therefore, with so many potential obstacles to overcome, efficient management of supply and demand within these consumer-centric retail events is of course paramount to successful delivery and customer satisfaction; communication is key between supplier, manufacturer, distributor, and retailer.
A strong contender within the ecommerce field, and adept to successfully serving consumers’ needs – Amazon, of course is a prestigious player within this competition for consumerism, with it not being their first, or even their second Black Friday, – Amazon continues, year on year, to increase it’s Black Friday sales.
Of course, Black Friday and similar events are now heavily dependent on Omni-Channel solutions …
It is thought that with the popularity of omni-channel retail, half as many consumers which opt to shop online, do also chose to occasionally click and collect in-store. It seems that now so spoilt for choice, the modern consumer has as predicted, become accustomed to receiving what they want, when they want it, and this couldn’t prove to be any truer for Black Friday.
No matter whether the customer is shopping online from a desktop or mobile device, by telephone or in a physical store on the high-street – consumers expect variable fulfilment options; in-turn ultimately dictating the solution that retailers chose to implement to manage and maintain the seasonal fluctuations in their order fulfilment and distribution.
Comprising a multitude of functionalities, ranging from standard ecommerce operations, to online ordering for click and collect, consumer-centric Omnichannel delivery, is perfect for saving time and money, not only across distribution expenses, but also facility overhead costs.
Providing a multi-tiered delivery platform for packages near and afar – relative to the consumer, it enables parcels to be readily delivered via local logistics, instead of being sourced from larger distribution centers, many miles or even countries away. Existing to ultimately serve the consumer, omnichannel remains a big task for logistics providers and final mile couriers to literally deliver; but repeatedly proves to be one of the most resourceful, efficient, and economically viable retail tools, to balance resource requirements across their logistics networks.
Furthermore, being wholly dependent on a strong and cohesive supply chain, omni-channel logistics leaves itself open to potential weak-links, which can predicate bottlenecks, disappointed customers, and potentially damage brand image and loyalty, if not resolved, or better still prevented. One smarter solution for example could be click-and-collect options, as a measure to reduce the uncertainty out of the supply-chain.
Whilst it is crucial to have an efficient and reliable supply-chain solution, supported by a more than competent logistics network, to cope with these volumes and to ensure that retailer’s revenue is not tied up in the returns process; also required is a reliable, integrated and optimised returns solution – the modern-day necessities for any retailer looking to ensure a successful peak trading event.
Undeniably, many parcels purchased, will be returned following Black Friday 2018. There is a lot of work that goes into making sure everything runs smoothly, so whilst events like Black Friday function best when customer-centric retailers need to ensure that they can not only cope with the increase in physical footfall and digital demand, they also need to obtain the full support of their supply chain and logistics operations, via both in-house and/or third-party capacity.
The Supply Chain Consulting Group Ltd is the result of a merger between two of the UKs leading Logistics and Supply Chain Consultancies; Gideon Hillman Consulting and Go Supply Chain Consulting. The new company is 50/50 shared ownership between Gideon Hillman Consulting Ltd and Go Supply Chain Consulting Ltd with the directors of both companies sitting on the board of the joint venture. The two companies have been collaborating on major European and UK Logistics Network and Supply Chain projects for major clients in Grocery and non-grocery FMCG retail since 2015.
