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Cut Off Dates for Christmas 2021 Delivery

It is that time of year when sales ramp up and your customers rely on you more than ever, to get their order delivered before Christmas. Kitpak Fulfillment wants you to know that the cut off dates for Christmas 2021 delivery published by many carriers are for use as a guideline only.

This year, extenuating circumstances may impact the normal holiday season delivery schedules for many carriers. Heavy rains from atmospheric rivers have caused severe flooding, mud slides and highway/railway washouts in British Columbia and the Maritime provinces. This has resulted in a significant backlog of freight that will take some time to clear, compounding an already backlogged and stressed supply chain.

With the uncertainty in the supply chain and weather events caused by factors out of their control, most carriers will provide some guidance on cut-off dates for Christmas 2021 delivery, but without the normal guarantee.

Here are the Christmas shipping cut-off dates from several carriers. For further information about cut off dates for Christmas 2021 delivery, please contact Kitpak Fulfillment today.

CANADA POST to CANADA

Inventory ManagementInventory Replenishment, Order Point

When to Replenish Inventory – Order Point

One of the frequently asked questions our clients ask is “How do I know when to replenish my inventory”? When setting up your inventory replenishment system, there are several factors to consider to help ensure you set your Order Point correctly. Information you will want to consider includes:

SALES – Average sales volume per stock keeping unit (SKU) daily/weekly/monthly/annually including any seasonal variations or peak periods
REPLENISHMENT LEAD TIME – The lead time required to replenish your inventory from the time of placing the order to the time of receiving it and having it ready to sell (consider both the average lead time and maximum lead time)
RISK – What is your customer’s (and your own) risk tolerance for a stock out
1. Is a stock out customer effecting
2. Cost (penalty, lost sales, reputation, etc.)
UNIT COST – The unit cost of your inventory SKU’s including lot size or threshold requirements
SHIPPING COST – The cost to ship product to your warehouse
STORAGE COST – The cost to store inventory including the cost of money
ORDERING COST – The internal cost of placing an order for inventory replenishment
OBSOLESCENCE – Risk of obsolescence. Is product/market stable or susceptible to change?

Order Point

There are numerous inventory replenishment methods that can be used from the most basic to the more complicated. Here we will discuss the Order Point system where an inventory replenishment signal is triggered when the balance on hand reaches a predetermined level.

The amount of inventory you choose to maintain needs to satisfy the current demand, the demand over the replenishment lead time and any unexpected variations (safety stock). The amount of safety stock you choose to keep to buffer unexpected demand or replenishment disruption is typically based on historical averages, forecasts and your own risk tolerance.

Other factors

Other factors or variables may need to be considered before making the decision on the inventory reorder quantity. These may include:

Is there a lot size price break you could take advantage of from your supplier?
Does the cost of storing extra inventory offset the lot size savings?
Do you have the warehouse space for storing more inventory?

Order Point Example

Average daily sales: 20 units
Replenishment lead time: 21 days
Safety stock: 14 days
Order Point: 700 units
Minimum order quantity (MOQ): 420 units

In this scenario, without considering other variables, a replenishment order would be signaled when the inventory first dips below 700 units (21 days of average demand during lead time = 420 units plus safety stock of 14 days = 280 units).

The minimum order quantity would be 420 based upon the expected average demand over the replenishment lead time. Theoretically, another order for 420 would need to be placed about the same time as the first order is received. If demand increases during the order lead time, the next order placed would typically include the MOQ of 420 plus the quantity needed to bring the safety stock back to the desired level.

Online Shopping

Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment

You have worked hard to develop your business and have created a great website and shopping cart for your customers to purchase your products online. While your online sales may be good, you may notice a growing number of shoppers leaving your website before completing their purchase. In fact, an average of 64% of online shoppers who initiate an online purchase will abandon their shopping cart before completing the purchase process. Why does this happen?

To prevent cart abandonment, the best thing an online store owner can do is to facilitate a smooth, quick and easy checkout process for their customer. Anything that interrupts the check-out process creates an opportunity for the shopper to reconsider their purchase and potentially change their mind.

Why shoppers will abandon a shopping cart.

Higher than expected shipping charges

The top reason for cart abandonment is the customer finding higher than expected shipping/handling charges after starting the purchase process. They will stop to reconsider the value and potentially stop the purchase.

What can you do to prevent this? There are many strategies that can be adopted, depending on your particular product, profit margins, ship-to locations, speed to market requirements, etc.

Provide clear details up front on the typical extra costs such as shipping and handling.
Offer free shipping. This is obviously a great benefit for the customer but it can also help you increase sales. For example, you could offer free shipping only if an order meets a certain value, creating an incentive for the customer to increase the size of the order.
Offer flat rate shipping. Flat rate shipping allows you to be transparent about the cost of shipping so your customer is not surprised by the cost at checkout. Online shoppers will like this.

The check out process is too complicated.

Sometimes, before completing an online purchase, the customer is asked to create an account or to provide their full contact information. Asking for too much information up front can stop a customer from completing their purchase. What can you do to help facilitate a smooth purchase?

Make the entire purchasing process as simple as possible.
Avoid forcing the customer to provide too much information prior to completing the purchase transaction. There is time to do this after the purchase.
Avoid complicated payment processes and utilize a guest checkout for those not wanting to create an account.

The online shopper was simply browsing

Not all online shoppers are visiting your store to make a purchase, many are simply browsing for products or services in which they are interested but are not ready to complete a purchase. They may be researching products, comparing pricing, checking to see if it is in stock, etc. So what can you do to help facilitate an eventual purchase?

Implementing a cart recovery process can allow you to get back in touch with the potential customer. This is a great way to differentiate yourself from your competitors who do not follow-up
Offer an incentive to return and complete a purchase
Try to stay top of mind by utilizing tracking pixels to redisplay the browsed products at appropriate times.

Kitpak Fulfillment is a Winnipeg based e-fulfillment partner to Canadian online store owners. To learn more about how Kitpak can help improve your e-fulfillment services while saving you money, reach out to us today. We are ready to help!

Cut Off Dates for Christmas 2021 Delivery

CANADA POST to CANADA

CANADA POST to USA

FEDEX

UPS