Logistical challenges in the Black Friday shopping season?

The dynamics of commercial planning, in a logistical scenario, in which a tradition circumscribed to Macy's department store in New York in the 60's, has come to occupy a fundamental place in the behavior of supply and demand of goods at a global level, leads to the need to channel the rebound of certain commercial activities close to the imminent Christmas season. It is called Black Friday, celebrated on November 25, which consists of a strategy of massive purchases, fundamentally globalized.

At the present time, it is of vital interest not to overlook the fact that buying and selling activities are being defined by what is known as the digital tradition, a reality of online shopping that reflects a highly competitive market situation with the presence of increasingly demanding consumers who wish to adapt to a dynamic of convenient, instantaneous and flexible services.  

Now, knowing that the Black Friday strategy has become internationalized to the point of being a highly anticipated moment by a large number of consumers, who want to do their Christmas shopping at very low prices, with promotions and offers that allow them to purchase a good number of products with juicy discounts compared to their initial price, opens the door to a reality in which it must be understood that there will be a considerable increase in the flow of activity in the delivery companies. Likewise, understanding that, in this scenario, the interest in having an excellent logistics service at the e-commerce level and the possibility of trying to contact more than one transport company will be accentuated (since it is a high season) will allow a greater adaptation to this commercial reality.

The consumer will have the opportunity to combine different types of transport with different types of shipments, having the possibility of paying for their operations through different forms of payment. This is a multivariate logistics reality in which many solutions will coexist in the dynamics of supply and demand relationships.  

If we delve a little into the logistic goals or objectives for the upcoming juncture, we must first take into consideration that, as it is an event in which the logistics sector is expected to be at one of its highest points, the sector has already initiated its strategies in advance, perhaps two or three months before the expected November 25.

Here are some aspects of interest to avoid collapses and slowdowns at the supply chain level:

- Design an adequate planning program to respond promptly to contingency order deliveries. In this regard, funding should be redirected in the short term to market research to help determine which products will be selected for sale to meet demand.

- Detailed planning of the means of transport to be chosen to deliver the goods to the final customer.

- Compliance with the due reinforcement of warehouse management, orders and shipments, as well as with the dealings to be maintained with suppliers and contact companies. 

- Effective communication with the personnel or human team duly trained to comply with the quality of the service, understanding that the date may impose large amounts of work that will undoubtedly affect the dynamics of the supply chain.

Contrary to those estimates that foresee a significant upturn in global purchasing and sales activities and, therefore, in all logistics activity, it is also suggested that a scenario of a certain contraction of orders could be observed in this year-end season, with a significant slowdown in consumption, which will begin to be felt in the coming weeks (estimates from the Spanish logistics and transport business organization UNO).

Perhaps at the level of Black Friday and the Christmas season, unexpected peaks of demand are recorded, however; the important thing for the deployment of such logistics activity is to always be prepared to meet customer satisfaction, understanding that the traditional logic inherited must be transcended to give way to the so-called omnichannel supply, which allows to maximize the activity of production and distribution centers, facing the needs that arise, making smarter use of stock, to meet during the peaks, to meet the full satisfaction of demand.