With Black Friday and Cyber Monday right around the corner, and the holidays following closely behind, now’s the time to get organized!
If you haven’t already, you should really start thinking about how you’ll juggle processing huge volumes of incoming orders, dealing with multiple suppliers, advertising and running promotions, managing packaging, scheduling and more… And then, of course, there’s the challenge of navigating the inevitable knock-on shipping delays that tend to happen at peak shopping seasons. In short, it’s a hectic time of year!
Our friends at Amazon really get it! But they also know that by planning ahead, your deliveries can reach your clients on time. To help out, they’ve published this handy guide. This guide covers a week-by-week planner that will allow you to breathe easily through the busiest time of year.
Plan and pace yourself between now and the end of the year and you will enjoy the rewards!
Bearing in mind that inventory needs to arrive at the Amazon fulfillment center by November 6th for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and by December 3rd for Xmas, Amazon has prepared a simple to-do list that includes:
- preparing your product line-up (10-12 weeks before) [Tip! Make sure that you are legally compliant with Polybags]
- managing your stock and shipping (7-9 weeks before) [Tip! Make sure that you understand an account for volumetric weight]
- fine-tuning your pricing and product pages (4-6 weeks before)
- advertising and promotions (final 3 weeks)
We have to say, the Amazon 2019 Holiday Guide is well worth a read. We’re impressed with how well they know our customers’ business and the challenges they face. They’ve even included links to top tips on a huge range of issues you’re currently dealing with: deciding what to sell, getting quality photographs, fixing inventory errors and more.
It’s never been easier to beat the holiday rush.
Our suggestion? Read this NOW https://services.amazon.com/fulfillment-by-amazon/holiday-guide.html so you don’t have to leave your clients with an ‘out of stock’ message when then big rush comes.
