BrownCafe

Experts say shop early, ship early

With global supply chain congestion grabbing headlines, consumers are fretting about potential out-of-stock items and delays, just as holiday shopping kicks into high gear.

What’s behind it: Pandemic disruptions in production and a boom in demand for products have caused bottlenecks upstream in the supply chain. And a backlog of containers in the largest shipping ports like Long Beach and Los Angeles in California, means inventory will remain limited well into the new year.

The good news: UPS has a proven track record delivering the holidays for customers around the world for decades and is ready as soon as packages enter its system. In 2020, the company had the industry’s highest on-time delivery performance every week from October 1 through December 26.

And in preparation for this holiday season, UPS has added more seasonal workers, increased network capacity and sped up package processing and delivery, resulting in a 95.2% on-time delivery rate according to ShipMatrix.

UPS announces its first direct flight from India to Europe where Boeing 747 flight will connect Delhi to its largest international hub at Cologne, Germany. The customers will also connect to the North and Latin American markets five days per week, which doubles the company’s previous capacity to and from India for small and medium-sized business customers looking to grow their revenue base.

“When business demand is increasing and volumes globally are being challenged, what you need is a smart logistics network that can respond to what customers are asking for, in an altered business environment. The agility to connect major economies to India via a direct flight for exports and imports is an example of UPS’s better, not bigger strategy and will provide reliability and expanded capacity to UPS’s customers,” said Rachid Fergati, managing director Middle East, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent for UPS.

New insights reveal how to stay on the nice list this holiday season

As online shopping continues to accelerate, the 2021 holiday shopping season is expected to break records with forecasts anticipating eCommerce sales to reach between $210 and $280 billion. As SMBs compete with larger retailers, they are recognizing the critical importance of delivering better shipping experiences for their customers.

To help SMBs capitalize on this upcoming holiday season, UPS Capital commissioned research on the current challenges and opportunities SMBs are experiencing with ecommerce. The study aimed to identify ecommerce pain points related to inflation and the COVID-19 resurgence, as well as the impact of ecommerce marketplaces and November deal days on SMB sales. It also looked at how service issues, including delayed and damage packages, impact their customers.

As companies begin to staff up for the holiday season, they face one of the tightest labor markets in decades. To attract employees, some companies like UPS are offering sign-on bonuses and additional benefits as well as creative incentives.