19 October 2023 The prospects for Black Friday 2023 are good. Given the accelerated growth of e-commerce, sales are expected to increase during the discount season. The numbers prove it: according to a study, 71% of Italians intend to shop during Black Friday. This high percentage follows last year’s trend, when a sales record was set, with a 26% increase in online purchases compared to 2022. Faced with this great opportunity to increase revenue, it is inevitable to ask: is your warehouse ready for this sales boom? The preparation of the logistics structure speaks volumes about the success of your business on Black Friday. And it is worth focusing on this because the profitability possibilities are high. To give you an idea, Black Friday in 2022 generated $4.02 billion in e-commerce, according to the consultancy firm Ebit|Nielsen, specialized in retail market analysis. Amazon is the one that has already paid attention to the importance of the date to increase revenue. According to an article published on InfoMoney, the company intends to maintain delivery times during Black Friday. Today, Amazon is already able to ship 20% of orders on the same day, 75% within one day, and 90% within two days. And in your company? What are the current deadlines? To make fast and quality deliveries, it is not enough to simply take care of one or another process in the warehouse. It is necessary to have a 360° view, after all, we are talking about a flow similar to a production line, where one step depends on the other. For example, if there are errors in storage, picking may be affected. If the separation is not correct, shipping will be difficult. In this sense, when preparing your warehouse for Black Friday, you must first follow the main premise: the right product, at the right time, in the right place. Additionally, it is necessary to adopt strategies that ensure maximum agility and precision in the execution of each task. In this text, we will help you with some fundamental tips. How to prepare the warehouse for Black Friday: overview In general, to have an organized warehouse capable of handling the high sales volume of Black Friday, you need to have: – Adequate warehouse layout and workflows – Reliable software integrations for every part of your business – Good relationships with suppliers – Reliable reports, preferably updated in real-time – Well-trained team It may be necessary to purchase an additional quantity of high-production items, and in this case, having an adequate layout, properly utilizing storage space, will be essential to keep stock organization and workflow in perfect activity. It is also important to consider the preparation of your team and its current structure, including the technology used. Are they ready to handle the strong demand? This question cannot be forgotten. To make the preparation of your warehouse for Black Friday even simpler, we share below a checklist with the main points to consider. Remember that a small inefficiency in a single process can ruin everything. Therefore, all elements must be carefully analyzed. Checklist to prepare the warehouse for Black Friday Check below all the requirements that must be met for your warehouse to achieve full efficiency in meeting Black Friday sales: Examine sales history to ensure sufficient stock levels. Reorganize your warehouse layout considering ABC classification: the items with the highest productivity must be more accessible and closer to the shipping area. Prepare in advance all resources of your warehouse, including equipment, packaging materials, and human resources. Don’t forget to perform preventive maintenance on the equipment. Ensure that all products and addresses are properly labeled. Ensure that your warehouse has adequately defined order picking areas and that the lines are properly balanced. Check if the picking method used is the most appropriate for your business. For the separation of fractional items, for example, we recommend Batch Picking associated with Put to Wall. Review your stock replenishment strategies, verifying if the replenishment procedures are accurate and effective. Test all your technologies and ensure that the systems are perfectly integrated. Check if there is a need for additional labor and, if so, hire it in advance. Train your team on how to perform the work and also on possible events and how to resolve them. Ensure maximum safety in the internal flow. Since there will be high traffic of people in the warehouse, verify that all pedestrian-dedicated areas are marked, as well as those intended for equipment transit. Also, ensure that only authorized personnel use forklifts and other equipment. Be ready to inventory fast-moving goods. Monitor the progress of your operation in real-time. Conduct tests and simulations before the big day. It may seem difficult to review all these points and ensure that processes are carried out with maximum efficiency and precision, but there is a great ally that will help you in practically all the tasks listed: the WMS system. With the help of the software, you achieve efficient routing; monitor all movements; slotting and Kanban functionalities (allowing better space utilization and correct warehouse rotation); automatically generate picking waves, with order prioritization and active employee recall; control shipping to ensure the order is correct; among other crucial features. The WMS also offers Visual Management, meaning you and your team have real-time updated dashboards and operating indicators at your fingertips, allowing an agile response to any delays or complications. Furthermore, the system offers cyclical inventory options that are inserted into the operational routine, ensuring maximum accuracy. For these reasons, we highlight another requirement for success during Black Friday: having a WMS system integrated with the other software used in your company. Technology will make a huge difference in your results! Sell more and win customers It is no news to anyone that today’s consumer is much more demanding than in the past. This is not only the result of digitalization, which has enabled a closer relationship between company and customer and has given voice to buyers on online platforms. It is also due to the improvements that major players have made to their operations, especially in terms of customer service. The more advantages, convenience, and comfort offered by these companies, the higher the expectations of consumers towards other companies they interact with. Therefore, if you really want to stand out during Black Friday, it’s time to prioritize logistics, as your customers’ satisfaction largely depends on good warehouse processes. Take advantage of the tips we have shared and put them into practice. And if you want to delve even deeper into this topic, access a text we published earlier, which gathers important questions to ask yourself when reviewing your warehouse and preparing for Black Friday. Happy sales! Checklist: Prepare Your Warehouse for Black Friday Deagor WMS per ecommerce può aiutarti!