For many ecommerce businesses, the Summer months are when the holiday season is won or lost. Successful brands understand that the sales they receive over the holidays are built long before the orders are placed. Through data analysis of the previous holiday season, businesses can make smarter inventory forecasts and strategic operational adjustments to capture peak season success.
Early Birds Catch the Market Share
According to Salesforce’s 360 Blog, “Many metrics consistently show that early movers outperform late planners in key areas like revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and efficiency.” Some statistics for early planners include:
- 25% higher revenue growth
- 15% post-holiday customer retention rate
- Service tickets were resolved 30% faster during the holiday rush
Data Drives Smart Decisions
A large component to success is driven by data. But not just the average sales data will do. Today’s top ecommerce brands are taking a deep dive into different types of data to identify operational health, and the buyer journey—from first online interaction to package delivery, or in some cases, the final return.
Breaking Down the Data
It is important to be able to understand different types of data, sources, and insights to be gained.
1. Operational Data – Datasets that are specific to the operational performance of managing inventory and fulfilling orders.
Sources: Order Management System (OMS), Warehouse Management System (WMS), and Transportation Management System (TMS).
Key Insights: Shipments, receipts, order accuracy, inventory management, labor productivity, operational efficiency, capacity planning, top or low performing SKUs, inventory fluctuations, return frequency, are just a few insights to be gained.
2. Sales and Marketing Data – Datasets that organize customer accounts, online performance, and sales/marketing efforts.
Sources: SEO platforms, Google Analytics, email marketing automation software, customer relationship management systems (CRMs), social media platforms, and more.
Key Insights: Lead sources, top industries, revenue trends, buyer demographics, sales pipeline health, website traffic, service types, website engagement, email campaign success, digital advertising, online purchasing behavior, user experience, overall lead generation trends, and customer service effectiveness.
3. Production Data – Data that characterizes the health of your suppliers and manufacturing processes.
Sources: Supply and demand data you receive from your suppliers and distribution partners.
Key Insights: Product demand, manufacturing processing, production cycles, lead times, quality control, throughput, downtime, raw material shortages, and supplier issues or availability.
4. Logistics Industry Data – Market research or government data on the state of the logistics industry. Using these sources can help with pricing prediction, carrier availability, budgeting, inventory placement, freight demand shifts, etc.
Sources: Market research firms, publicly available indexes/reports, government research, industry articles, and trade association reports such as CSCMP’s State of Logistics Report.
Key Insights: Supply chain capacity challenges, real estate inventory levels, jobs/workforce trends, economic activity, industry forecasts, consumer confidence, warehousing and transportation rate analysis, and regulatory shifts.
It’s Not Black Magic
It’s estimated that 20-40% of sales revenue is generated during the holiday season. Online buyer expectations are at an ultimate high. During the holidays, the pressure is on to meet these high standards by delivering the best experience, service, and product. This is a key differentiator of a brand from its competitors. Armed with the right data, brands developed a proactive awareness of external and internal issues to grow confidence as they head into the next peak holiday season.