How SMBs Can Crush Peak Season With Maxwell Bonnie From Saltbox

The holiday season is often the most profitable time of year for small businesses, but it comes with many challenges. How can small ecommerce businesses create a great purchase experience for customers? What logistical hurdles will they face? 

In this episode, Maxwell Bonnie, co-founder of Saltbox, answers these questions and shares tips to help SMBs successfully navigate the upcoming peak season.

What’s different about peak season 2024?

Peak season is always a busy time, but this year’s peak has the potential to be even more hectic than usual. That’s because there are only 17 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas instead of the usual 20 or 21, leaving businesses scrambling to ship more packages than ever in a short amount of time.

Maxwell also predicts that carrier capacity will be a concern. Due to changes related to USPS’s 10-year plan, “Brands are going to be shifting a little bit away from the Post Office and trying to go directly to FedEx and UPS to mitigate risk. … That means FedEx and UPS are going to be busier than they've ever been.”

Advice for small businesses during peak

What can your business do to keep things running smoothly during peak season? First, Maxwell suggests diversifying your carrier mix by using a combination of large, emerging, and regional partners to transport packages.

He also advises businesses to “[Ship] earlier. Having earlier cutoff times than normal with your holiday orders … build[s] in some buffer so that your customer gets the package on time.”

The importance of having a plan

The bottom line? “You need some sort of plan, but know that it's not going to go to plan—and that is completely okay. But take the time to put something on paper so that you are prepared for this [peak] season.”

Links

• Connect with Maxwell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwellbonnie/ 
• Visit Saltbox’s website: https://www.saltbox.com/