Topic of the week – The Golden Quarter and success through AI
There has been a lot of buzz within the industry as we have been on the approach to peak season, and with Amazon’s Prime Day event throughout this week, it’s safe to say peak 2023 is kicking off! Otherwise known as the Golden Quarter, peak season has begun and the approach towards, Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Christmas is the busiest time for retailers and for shippers as warehouses fill with deliveries. It can be make or break for some, and after a tumultuous peak 2022, developments are being made to make peak 2023 as streamlined and manageable as possible. AI is at the forefront of development within the eCommerce sector and could help retailers, suppliers and shippers to make sure peak runs smoothly.
When planning for peak, it can sometimes be a struggle to have one cohesive retailing model that doesn’t require last minute changes or frantic back and forth emailing. Some retailers are now adopting artificial intelligence (AI) into their retail models to consolidate every data point from advertisement to the supply chain. Most people may think AI is only useful in the eCommerce industry for autonomous delivery. This couldn’t be further from the truth. While that is a viable use of AI, utilising this tool as a predictive and preventative measure can be extremely useful in planning ahead for the peak period. Using AI to consolidate past data from order volumes means when it comes to planning for the next year, you can forecast what to expect based on your past data. AI can highlight pain points allowing you to incorporate these into your planning. This can be used for promotional activity too. Seasonal items and discounts can be taken into account so retailers will know what their consumers are purchasing, when and for how much. Analysing and keeping on top of these key trends can be integral.
Using AI in this way is also great for saving time on planning, to focus on improving business relationships with suppliers and other partners. Using historical data is great for organising and planning, but can also be used to generate simulations of what is to come. With this you will be able to see predictive outcomes, identify potential gaps or weaknesses and implement any course corrections way before peak season arrives. Overall it is always about improving customer satisfaction, from suppliers to retailers to consumers, so why not use AI to your advantage and alleviate some of that peak period tension.
In other news
New lockers in town
Parcel locker specialists YEEP! have officially launched its delivery locker solution in the UK. YEEP! are providing the first battery-powered parcel lockers, that can be used 24/7 and are also carrier agnostic. Plans and agreements with national carriers and London Boroughs are already in place to station over 400 lockers this year, with over a 1000 planned by Q2 2024 and over 10,000 across the UK. Lockers can be installed within an hour and require no wiring as they are fully battery operated, with a range of size configurations to fit anywhere. With a large focus on being eco-friendly, parcel lockers are not only a greener form of delivery but YEEP! are actively working with its partners to improve their decarbonization and reduce emissions.
Wingcopter’s latest drone delivery solution
The delivery of groceries and smaller goods is now being offloaded to drones in a German trial that sees Wingcopter and the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences provide emission-free and fast delivery to specific homes in a joint project. Canned foods, eggs, fruit and vegetables etc will all be available to be transported by drones to the districts of Rehbach and Wurzberg where they will be picked up by electric cargo bikes for the final mile. In these villages, where buying groceries can be an arduous endeavour, this new delivery method hopes to provide an easier alternative to purchasing everyday essentials while bettering the environmental impact of delivery.
Royal Mail expands its Christmas delivery force
In anticipation of the Christmas overhaul, Royal Mail is recruiting 16,000 temporary staff to add to its fleet. Royal Mail have also added a temporary 176,500 sqm of space across 5 of its seasonal sorting centres, and an additional 6,800 delivery vehicles as it expects up to 2 million parcels per day to come through two of its automated hubs alone.
eCommerce Market Stats
See some statistics relating to this week’s topics in the eCommerce market below.
AI statistics
Future areas in which AI will help e-commerce businesses according to decision makers in North America and Europe
- Site search – 54%
- Forecasting – 52%
- Delivery – 15%
- Order management – 15%
In eCommerce in France…
- 93% of retailer strongly agree that AI will make predictive analysis more efficient
- 86% of retailer strongly agree that AI will save time for their teams
- 82% of retailers strongly agree that AI will help increase turnover
AI in the Supply Chain
- 37% of supply chain leaders are currently using or planning to use AI within 24 months
- AI in the supply chain market is projected to reach $10 billion (USD) by 2025
- AI has proven to help supply chain operators reduce forecasting errors by 50% and reduce loss of sales by 65%
That’s all for this week…
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