Logistics & Holiday season: how to make your e-commerce shipments successful? | RAJA

For the end of 2021, the balance sheet for e-commerce sales is unprecedented: 130 billion euros of sales on the Internet are forecast by FEVAD, with no less than 515 million transactions carried out in the third quarter. All this is still in a health situation that is increasing both the supply and demand for online purchases.

Each year, 41 million French people buy online, with an average of 45 transactions per buyer per year.

For e-retailers, the end of the year represents a significant business opportunity: in general, the month of December represents more than 20% of e-retailers’ annual sales.

But with customers increasingly demanding delivery times and quality, as well as an influx of orders on the horizon, how do you cope with the end of the year? Discover the logistical advice that our RAJA experts, Henri SERRE and Ulrick PARFUM, gave during our last webinar.

1. Prepare a solid returns policy
2. Focus on packaging to increase productivity
3. Ensuring the proper delivery of your parcels
4. Opting for personalised packaging
5. Improve customer satisfaction

Prepare a solid returns policy

As you know, more e-commerce orders during the festive season means more returns, so you need to be prepared for the inevitable influx of returns at the end of the year.

To do this, consider :

• Review your returns policy if necessary– why not, for example, increase the return time during this period, to avoid bottlenecking your supply chain? Also, to boost your sales, don’t hesitate to offer free returns during this period – after all, you need to satisfy the expectations of the 70% of online consumers who check the returns policy and conditions before buying!
• Clearly display your returns policy on the website. These are crucial in helping consumers make their online purchase decision, so they should be clearly displayed throughout the checkout process on your e-commerce site: on your homepage, on the checkout page..
• Provide return packaging, which protects the products during shipping and re-shipment, and thus allows the customer to return the goods more easily and securely. Pockets, cases or return boxes: they exist in different formats, to be chosen according to the protection needs of your products.

Focus on packaging to increase productivity

The packaging phase is crucial in the order preparation chain: unfortunately, it is to this phase that many e-retailers owe the slowness of their logistics chain. Therefore, for your end-of-year holiday logistics, during the period of high order volumes, it must be optimised to promote your productivity.

To do this, there are so-called “time-saving” packages that help you optimise the number of orders prepared per hour and per packaging station:

• In this type of packaging, the cushioning plates are already attached to the walls of the box, thus saving time at the picking station, but also providing a maximum level of protection, which reduces the risk of losing time due to a possible re-delivery.
• Instant and quickassembly crates: A real flagship product for e-tailers, these crates eliminate the need to assemble or tape the bottom of the crate. In addition, the bottom of the crate is flat, which prevents access to the contents of the crate, thus increasing security
  against theft
  .
• Adhesive tapepockets or cartons: On these packages, the adhesive is already integrated and slightly overhanging, which allows the operator to grasp it more easily, thus saving time.
• Plastic shipping pouches to replace cardboard boxes, making it easier to insert products into the package.
• Bubble bags with adhesive closurenot only do your operators not need to use an external adhesive, but the packaging is perfectly calibrated to the size of the product, which reduces the environmental impact of your shipment.

Time is money, so think about it when choosing your logistics packaging for the end of the year!

Ensuring your parcels are delivered correctly

As the year draws to a close, your e-commerce logistics must also think about making parcel deliveries more fluid for your customers. Indeed, your customers are increasingly demanding from this point of view as well, and are asking to have access to fluid and finely tracked deliveries.

In order to improve your e-commerce logistics processes, it is therefore advisable to give your customers the opportunity to choose between different delivery methods on your site: home delivery, but also delivery to a relay point, or even a left luggage office.

But did you know that by packaging your products, you can also aim to get them through the letterbox on the first delivery round from the carriers? Indeed, postal packaging our products (whether they are extra-flat pouches, postal cases or padded pouches) are designed to fit a standard letterbox, allowing them to be slipped in without worry. At a time when the Covid-19 crisis is still a reality, they also allow for contactless delivery, which reassures your customers.

To guarantee the correct delivery of your parcels, you must also think about the protection of your goods. To do this, think about..

• Choosing the right cushioning material. It must of course help your goods to resist shocks, but it must also enhance your eco-responsible image, which is so dear to the eyes of today’s consumers. Rather than plastic particles, which are invasive for the environment as well as for unpacking products, think about testing cushioning paper, which is recycled and recyclable. It is also available in a dispenser box, which saves you even more time when packing your products.
• Opt for special packaging for your fragile goods: a bottle crate with reinforced crossbars, an isothermal crate for your foodstuffs, or a special crate for drive-through or home delivery: your ideal packaging is bound to exist.

Opt for customised packaging

As you know, good packaging not only ensures that your goods are delivered smoothly, but also creates a differentiated customer experience. Why not think about this for your logistics at the end of the year and create that much sought-after “wow effect”?

Encourage “pleasure” buying this year-end with these tips:

• Personalise your packaging with your brand’s colours, to make it visible upon delivery, or with a slogan or graphic charter specific to the end-of-year celebrations
• Use tissue paper as cushioning, and personalise it with your brand colours too?
• Include personalised gift tags on it, as a small token of appreciation for your customers

Improve customer satisfaction

The end of the year is also a great time to build loyalty with existing and new customers through a seamless and differentiating customer experience. You may have heard it before: 86% of shoppers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience – it’s up to you!

Here are some examples of how you can use packaging to improve customer satisfaction:

• Make it easy to open your packages, for example with boxes with tear-off strips. This tear-off strip saves time when unpacking the package. No more scissors or cutters: your customers have access to their products quickly, without effort!
• Put forward an eco-responsible image of your company, thanks to eco-responsible packaging. Using biosourced, recyclable and recycled materials, and with the right communication, you limit your impact on the environment, and satisfy the expectations of today’s consumers, who are increasingly concerned about the impact of their practices on the environment
• Take care of the unboxing and recycling of your packaging, by using the right amount of packaging, because finally, choosing the right packaging also means planning for the end of its life, by helping your customers to manage their waste sorting.

And to end the year with ideal logistics..

Also think about..

• Equip yourself well, in particular with a packing table or station and why not an integrated packing line, which will help you to gain in logistical performance.
• Adapt well, with appropriate processes and training for your order pickers (especially if you have changed packaging during the period).
• Anticipate your needs, by choosing the right packaging for your products, in the right formats and quality.

For the end of the year, RAJA continues to support you: our advisors are always ready to listen to your needs, and our deliveries are guaranteed within 24 to 48 hours.