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How To Prepare Dropshipping Store for Holiday Season 2021

How To Prepare Dropshipping Store for Holiday Season 2021

What you should consider while preparing for the Festive season 2021?

Every merchant waits for the holiday season with great expectations and bated breath. These last 4-6 months every year become all about sales and fulfilment and customer satisfaction.

There is no way that one can say the holiday season in the world of eCommerce can somehow be not so busy, and honestly, no one would want that. But, strategy and planning, can make the entire process absolutely hassle-free and extremely productive.

When to start?

The best time to start planning for the holiday season sales is at least 3-4 months prior. For example, lets’ say BFCM falls in Oct, you must kickstart your store’s prep from the end of July itself. here

Where to Start?

The best place to start the preparation process is from clearance of the warehouses and strategy curation in order to make the process well mapped out on paper and ready-to-execution instantly.

How to Prepare for the Holiday Season Challenges ahead with CedCommerce?

Some of the major challenges that merchants face while ensuring preparedness for the festive season:

How To Prepare Dropshipping Store for Holiday Season 2021

Unpredictable demands

While most of the products in the industry are popular and high in demand, every year, several products unpredictably go in high demand at a time when it is a little late to start stocking them in abundance. Plan early, allow a wishlist or “want it” registration a month in advance for each festival. Get your store developed to incorporate a Wishlist. Additionally, during peak seasons, save yourself from overselling by incorporating threshold limits via integrations from CedCommerce.

Streamlined, quick, and easy experience of all shoppers

Not all shoppers landing on your eCommerce site will be the experts and tech-savvy ones. Simplify the selling process, streamline it, and offer a direct shopping experience. Equipped your offer with Gift Cards, multiple Payment options, easy step checkout, etc. Unified experience in multi-channel selling during Holiday Season can elevate the experience your brand offers. Get your store upgraded with a Cart Recovery tool, CRM, Multiple Payment Gateway integrations, and other recent digital trends and intelligent business strategies from CedCommerce.

Unique Promotions

Everyone in the market offers the highest discounts, creating pressure for every other merchant. An option is to offer one or lose the sales. Effective Discounts trim the profit margins by a lot. Nonetheless, the same strategy needs to be perceived from a different angle.

While you cannot be a Santa and give away free products throughout the year, be half a Santa and offer the best promotions and discounts, run sales, which are effective to drive more sales. Remember, promotions ensure that you stand above the competition. Higher sales at an average price and lower sales with high prices are your two choices. Speak with our experts to gather more business intelligence and strategies for optimal performance and promotions that will work for you. Implement promotions on either all or selectively on your inventories on the basis of profiles through CedCommerce Integrations Solutions.

In time Delivery

With the rush of shoppers shopping every single minute of the holiday season, the quickest deliveries become a challenge. Now under the Covid time delivery for essentials is competing with that of non-essential items. All of this creates unpredictable congestion. Get in touch with your delivery partner well in advance. And scratch out a deal that would work for you without causing any unwanted and unpleasant surprises later on. CedCommerce offers integrations compatible with the popular fulfillment services and their solutions to ensure you can offer multiple delivery options to your customers.

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Short Supply debacle

During the shopping season, every merchant in the market starts stocking up on popular products early. They do so in large quantities to ensure uninterrupted supply for sales. Also, to avoid the hassle of dealing with stocking and logistics while they need to focus on sales. Other steps like packing, dispatching, etc take the leftover time. Chalk out your logistics, supply, and other involved processes months in advance. Then plan an emergency stocking routine in stages all through the holiday season. Start with preparations under the support of industry experts. CedCommerce has experts who have successfully enabled several merchants to excel during high and low seasons for over a decade.

How to Start?

 

For new Sellers

If you are looking forward to a digital transformation of your physical retail store or you want to start fresh with an online eCommerce store, start your setup immediately. No time is too late. Get your stores designed from the ground up and start implementing a ready to use well tested executable plan offered by the industry experts who will dedicatedly help you with your multi-channel sales, App development, multi-vendor or dropshipping business model, multi-channel Marketing Campaigns, and pretty much anything else you need with a complimentary free service 24×7. Employ services from CedCommerce to get support for Graphics and Content for your store or Social media marketing, Video designing, Podcast, etc.

Current Market Issues

As global economies continue to reemerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, once-empty supply chains are feeling the strain of a sudden surge in consumer demands. This phenomenon has been particularly prominent in China, where businesses have struggled to keep up with the high demand for goods from domestic and international shoppers alike.

 

The current global market realities have made it necessary for dropshippers to stay ahead of current trends to remain competitive. Here are the top issues of concern that can hinder your success this holiday season if you aren’t prepared:

 

1. A Global Supply Chain Shortage

The COVID-19 pandemic put a strain on global supply chains in ways we have never seen before. Imagine unplugging and plugging back in the global economy, and you can see how there are still kinks that need to be worked out.

 

For the 2021 holiday season, demand for goods will likely continue to rise at an unprecedented rate while cargo ships and truck drivers sit stalled in an economy struggling to cope.

 

The difficulty of freight shipping can have a significant impact on business for both suppliers and eCommerce merchants, but the latter will be hit particularly hard if they aren’t prepared.

 

2. Energy Shortages

In China and around the world, energy shortages have led to surging prices and power rationing, which has pushed factories to cut production and led to a drop in manufacturing activity.

 

This will naturally lead to a shortage of goods, but logistics companies are also bracing themselves for potential problems. It’s likely that there won’t be enough fuel or sufficient workforce to deal with the influx of holiday packages that usually flood delivery services during 2021 shopping season.

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3. Sea and Air Freight Costs are Rising

With the strain on the supply chain, the cost of shipping goods by sea and air has spiked. This is a major issue for eCommerce merchants, who will need to factor this increased cost into their product pricing.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic increased demand for goods, which left suppliers struggling to keep up with pre-pandemic consumer expectations. This led to an increase in prices for raw materials, which naturally led to increases in the final price of goods.

 

The 2021 holiday season is already expensive enough as it is, so merchants will need to figure out ways to overcome this hurdle if they don’t want to lose out on sales.

 

4. Labor Shortages

In the wake of COVID-19, many people have lost jobs due to factory closings and other issues within the global supply chain. This has led to a labor shortage, leaving companies scrambling to hire staff before the holiday season hits.

 

This will be a problem for eCommerce merchants as well, who may need additional help with packaging and processing orders during this time of year. Many potential hires will be reluctant to work overtime, which could lead to problems with completing orders before the holiday period.

 

What This Means For Shoppers

So what do these global market concerns mean for consumers?

 

In short, shoppers are bracing themselves for longer wait times and increased costs. Prices will be higher for products this 2021 holiday season, and shipping is likely to disappoint more than a few buyers. Plus, as companies try to cope with shortages and energy costs, there’s a good chance that consumers won’t enjoy as many deals as they have in the past.

 

Rather than wait on products that may not arrive on time, many shoppers may opt to spend more money on fewer items. This will raise the level of competition for brands trying to reach shoppers.

 

How Dropshippers Can Win Holiday Season 2021

The market conditions can seem overwhelming. However, dropshippers who are creative and strategic can come out on top – if they have the right strategy. Here are our tips for how to win holiday season 2021!

 

1. Buy Plenty of Stock In Advance

 

When it comes to dropshipping, the best strategy is to keep plenty of stock on hand. This way, even if deliveries are delayed (and they probably will be) you’ll still have products available for your customers. Stock your winning products (or most popular sizes and colors) is the most cost-effective strategy.

 

2. Explore and Expand Your Marketing Strategies

With the iOS updates impacting Facebook ads largely, it’s important to explore new marketing channels and strategies, particularly during the holiday season. In a competitive market with increased consumer expectations, it’s vital that you’re able to connect with your customers in fun and engaging ways that meet their needs. Try influencer marketing and content marketing to broad your reach and communicate in a more engaging way.

 

3. Provide Superior Customer Service

In a world where most people have come to expect instant gratification, one of the most effective ways to stand out is to offer superior customer service. Make sure that your customers know they’re valued and appreciated by giving them fast, personalized service even during this busy time of year.

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This includes implementing a loyalty program that rewards your best customers for shopping with you and encouraging them to tell their friends about your products.

 

However, this shouldn’t come at the expense of customer service – meaning that if a customer expects a product soon but won’t have it in time for the holiday, they should still be treated well and respected.

 

4. Invest in Fast and Reliable Shipping

Even if you can find ways to overcome challenges in the market, your customers may still end up disappointed with their products. If that happens and they believe their product was late due to shipping issues (or anything else) they will be far less likely to shop with you again.

 

As a result, it’s important to invest in fast and reliable shipping – even if you have to spend more money. It will be well worth it in the long run because it could lead to increased sales and long-term customer loyalty.

 

It’s Not Too Late To Prepare for Chinese New Year 2022!

While the current market conditions are expected to create some challenges, it’s not too late to prepare for Chinese New Year 2022.

 

The best thing you can do right now is to keep your inventory levels well maintained so you don’t find yourself scrambling before the holiday season hits. Consider stocking up a month in advance at least to prepare for factory shutdowns during the four-week holiday.

 

You should also start exploring new marketing channels and potential customer segments that may be receptive to your brand at this time of year. Some good places to start are via social media, SEO, and email marketing.

Go multi-channel this Holiday Season
If you want to have your own marketplace this holiday season, tap into CedCommerce’s Multi-Vendor and App development Services. With them, demand all your customizations free of any hesitations. Or if you are planning your business on the Drop Shipping model, check out what all the experts have to offer.

CedCommerce also offers elaborate, highly optimized, and extremely scalable Digital Marketing Services that ensure results beyond expectations. Build your brand, further strengthen its presence and skyrocket your ecommerce sales during the Holiday Season. Easily secure your profit borders all with CedCommerce’s wide range of services.

Secure your leads while selling online during Holiday Season with CedCommerce by leveraging Content Marketing, Graphic Designing, SEO Management, Social Media Handling, and a lot more. Know that quality content and graphics will impact your ecommerce sales during the Holiday Season, especially while selling multi-channel.

Also, you will never find yourself alone this Holiday Season. The services are available 24×7 and free of cost. Dedicated account management ensures selling through a multi-channel online store is made easy. Get in touch with CedCommerce to discuss in more detail how to prepare and sell with your eCommerce store for the Holiday Season 2021.

By preparing now, you can enjoy an enjoyable, profitable season!

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