An increasing number of consumers did their holiday shopping online this year. The figures for the holiday season have yet to be compiled, but some statistics estimate that over 50% of holiday purchases were made online.
With an increase in the number of goods being purchased online, prompt shipments are becoming more and more important. In fact, holiday shoppers indicated that delays were their biggest concern this year.
Anxiety And Worry About Shipments
ContentSquare’s 2017 Holiday Mood report indicated that nearly twice as many Americans were “stressed and frustrated” this year than “relaxed or happy.”
The survey also indicated that nearly 40% of shoppers were more frustrated than they were last year. Much of this can be attributed to concerns about shipping. When surveyed, shipping delays were the biggest concern, with 35% of respondents concerned about whether their packages would arrive on-time.
CEO Jonathan Cherki concluded that, based on the results of the study, new stressors are being replaced with old stressors. Old stressors included having to sit in traffic, wait on long lines, and deal with heavy congestion at malls and other retail stores. Ordering gifts online should reduce a lot of the stress associated with holiday shipping. But shipments are contributing to elevated stress levels.
The shipping industry is going to have to evaluate their supply chain logistics to alleviate customer concerns. One of the biggest problems has been the rapid growth of the industry. UPS admitted that it fell behind this holiday season because they were not expecting such a large number of Black Friday and Cyber Week shipments. UPS delivered 712 million packages last holiday season and was expected to deliver over 750 million packages this season.
DHL and Amazon also reported delays in air freight. Although the final figures have not yet been released for the holiday season, both companies were expecting those delays to get worse.
Accounting For Delays
When shipping, it’s important to account for delays. Weather, traffic, and an increase in demand around the holiday season can all disrupt supply chain logistics. If proper precautions are not taken, entire shipments can be ruined before reaching the customer. Fruits and other perishable foods, lotions, shampoos, cosmetics, nail polish, and electronics all can expire if not properly protected.
One precaution that shippers could use to protect their investments is the SureTemp Container Bubble Blanket. This is SureTemp’s lightest form of thermal protection available, having minimal effects on shipment weight. The blanket protects from both heat and frost, and are an effective counter to both conductive and convective heat transfers.
The blankets can simply be pulled over the shipment and secured with a proprietary magnetic pulley system.
