E-commerce is booming, making it easier and more convenient for consumers to shop for the products they need.
The ease with which people can shop online from the comfort of their homes, at any time of the day or night, is a turning point in the overall shopping experience.
However, when it comes to buying gifts for loved ones, doing it online is more than just an enjoyable shopping experience. It becomes a time-saving activity.
In this article, we’ll look at how online gift shopping during holiday sales benefits your online store, what it means for you in terms of online gift fulfillment, and what solutions you can implement to boost efficiency and get even more happy customers.
The benefits of selling gifts online during the Holiday Sales
Selling gifts during the holiday season has many benefits for retailers and customers. It allows gift shops to reach a wider audience, offer convenience and special promotions, and potentially increase profits. For shoppers, it provides a stress-free way to find the perfect gifts for their loved ones.
Let’s take it one at a time.
Peak sales add up to increased sales
The holiday season is when many people are looking to buy gifts for their loved ones. As a result, online gift sales tend to spike during this time of the year, which can significantly boost an online business's revenue.
The holiday sales take your brand cross-border
The holiday sales frenzy is happening all around the globe. This is why selling gifts online allows businesses to reach customers worldwide, rather than just those in their local area. This can greatly help online stores looking to expand their customer base and tap into a much larger market.
In fact, one study from Paypapers reported that cross-border e-commerce sales were expected to reach $1 trillion in 2022, representing more than 20% of total e-commerce sales. In addition, the report found that cross-border e-commerce is growing faster than domestic e-commerce, with a compound annual growth rate of 20% between 2018 and 2022.
Improved convenience for customers brings you profits
While some people prefer to brave the crowds at the mall, others look for a more convenient and stress-free way to shop for gifts. Online shopping for gifts is especially appealing to customers, who can easily browse and purchase items from the comfort of their own homes. This convenience can make it easier for online stores to reach new clients and increase sales.
Increased competition attracts visibility
The holiday season is a highly competitive time for businesses, as consumers have many options for where to shop for gifts. Selling gifts online allows online stores to compete with other retailers, which eventually can help them to stand out and attract more customers.
For example, online stores can differentiate themselves during the holiday season by offering unique and personalized gifts. These gifts can be particularly appealing to consumers because they show thought and effort on the gift giver's part. Additionally, stores can use targeted marketing campaigns to reach specific audiences and showcase their unique offerings.
Holiday sales and gifts allow you to differentiate from competition
Another benefit of selling gifts online during the holiday season is the ability to offer special promotions and discounts. Many online retailers offer free shipping or other perks, such as gift wrapping or personalized messages, to entice customers to buy from their websites. The more you surprise and delight your customers, the more you can boost sales and customer loyalty.
Challenges in gift order fulfillment during Holiday sales
But as there is no nice without naughty, the benefits of selling gifts online come with challenges in order fulfillment, especially during the peak seasons like winter holidays. Let's unpack the challenges first and then see how we can overcome them!
1. Predicting the Holidays demand
One of the specific fulfillment difficulties that online gift stores may face is the need to predict the demand for their products accurately. With the increased volume of orders during the holiday season, retailers must be able to accurately forecast how much inventory they will need to avoid running out of popular items. This can be challenging, as it requires careful analysis of past sales data and a real-time understanding of market trends.
2. High order volumes and returns
Online gift businesses may also face difficulties in managing returns and exchanges. With the increased volume of orders during the holiday season, retailers may receive higher numbers of such events. This can be a complex and time-consuming activity, as retailers must process requests in a timely and efficient manner in order to maintain customer satisfaction.
Moreover, during the holiday season, online retailers receive a large number of orders in a short period. This can strain their fulfillment processes and make it difficult to ship orders promptly and efficiently.
3. Inventory management
Another challenge of the online stores selling gifts is the need to manage inventory. With the increased demand for their products, retailers need to order more inventory to keep up with the demand. This can be a challenging operation, as retailers must accurately predict how much inventory they will need and ensure that they have the right products in stock at all times.
4. Many SKUs + request for bundles and kitting
Gift fulfillment can be a complex process that involves handling many SKUs (many of them composed of small and lightweight items) and the ability to create kits of products. This involves combining multiple products into a single package, such as a gift basket or box, and can be a useful way for retailers to offer customers various products in a single purchase and help increase sales.
Retailers must be prepared to manage this complexity in kitting operations and inventory management to provide customers with a wide selection of gift options and eventually increase revenue.
5. Packing
Gift sets require extra attention in the fulfillment process, including picking the items for the gift set, packaging them together, and shipping them out efficiently and accurately. Selling gifts is important to any online retailer’s brand image, as people trust them to get the best holiday gift for their loved ones. There is no room for error, whether we’re talking about delayed shipping or improper packaging.
Online gift stores need to invest in various packaging materials to accommodate different types and sizes of products.
A 3PL is like Santa’s little helper. It helps online gift sellers to reach their customers quickly and efficiently
Partnering with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider can help online sellers overcome gift fulfillment challenges during the holiday season.
By partnering with a 3PL provider, online sellers can focus on their core competencies and leave the fulfillment tasks to the experts. This can help ensure that orders are fulfilled quickly and efficiently and eventually helps online sellers avoid the common challenges associated with gift fulfillment during the holiday season.
There are several ways in which partnering with a fulfillment specialist can help online sellers overcome gift fulfillment challenges during the holiday season.
Extra space for storing and warehousing inventory
A 3PL can offer additional warehousing and storage capacity, which can be crucial during the holiday season when demand for online gifts is high. At Frisbo, we help online sellers avoid running out of stock or being unable to fulfill orders on time.
With one of the largest European fulfillment networks, we help online stores to implement flexible fulfillment and warehousing strategies, so they can have stock right next to their customers, no matter where they are buying from.
Picking and packing services for a high volume of orders
A 3PL provider can offer order fulfillment services, such as picking, packing, and labeling, which, in turn, can help online sellers fulfill orders more efficiently. This can be especially useful during the holiday season when the volume of orders is high, and there may be a need for faster turnaround times.
At Frisbo, Pick & Pack services are one of the company's cores. By offering a range of options for packaging, shipping, and delivery, our online gift stores get to customize their fulfillment process according to their specific needs and those of their customers.
Gifts reach customers the next day
A 3PL provider can offer a range of shipping options, such as same-day or next-day delivery, that can help online sellers meet the expectations of their customers. This can be especially important during the holiday season when customers may be looking for fast and reliable delivery of their gifts.
Thanks to our shipping partners, 30+ warehouses located all across Europe, and Next-Day delivery strategies, gifts arrive faster than Santa's sleigh. This way, customers can place their orders later in the holiday shopping season and still have a good chance of receiving their gifts in time for the holidays. This is a life-saving solution for those who have left their shopping until the last minute.
Are you looking for a fulfillment partner for your online gift e-commerce store? Frisbo integrates with all Shopify, WooCommerce, Allegro, and all the other major e-commerce platforms and marketplaces, giving you access to the largest fulfillment network in Europe.
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