If your ecommerce brand is currently enjoying steady order volumes, a loyal customer base, and a calm, well-functioning team – congratulations! But don’t get too comfortable. As Black Friday and the Christmas season approach, the calm can quickly turn into chaos. That is, unless you’ve already been demand planning.
Demand planning is the strategic process of forecasting future customer demand to ensure that your inventory supply aligns with the market needs. It involves analysing historical sales data, previous seasonal trends and purchasing behaviours to anticipate what products will be needed, and in what quantities. While it has always been ecommerce 101 to understand what your customers are buying, and why, demand planning has never been as important as it is today.
With an abundance of competition in the ecommerce market, your brand’s most valuable asset might not exclusively be a high value product, it could be your customer loyalties, and satisfaction rate. Unfortunately, if your products are perpetually out of stock – even your most loyal supporters are unlikely to stick around. A recent study showed that 91% of shoppers refuse to wait for a restock, they’ll switch to a competitor or abandon the purchase completely.
Failing to meet the expectations of your customers doesn’t just result in a missed sale, it can have serious consequences that translate directly to diminished brand reputation and a loss of customer loyalty.
It’s not all bad news though. If you’re investing in demand planning for your ecommerce business, you can avoid these seasonal pitfalls and create a successful fulfilment strategy that can help your ecommerce brand this peak season.
Customer loyalty is built on consistency. When shoppers know they can rely on your brand to deliver what they want, when they want it, they’re far more likely to return.
Demand planning plays a direct role in this by reducing stockouts, backorders, and delayed dispatches. By forecasting demand accurately, you ensure popular products remain available during high-traffic periods, removing friction from the buying journey.
From a customer perspective, this translates into:
Over time, this reliability strengthens brand trust. Customers don’t just remember the product they bought; they remember how smooth the experience was. In competitive ecommerce categories, that experience is often what separates a one-time purchase from long-term loyalty.
One the most immediate and impactful benefits of demand planning is its ability to optimise your inventory management.
By anticipating potential, future demand, you’re removing the risk of your customers being disappointed, leaving your ecommerce brand without anything to show for it. As well as allowing you to prevent your customers from facing the dreaded ‘sold out’ banner, you can help save your brand money, by not over ordering stock which hasn’t historically sold well.
At GNOC, we strive to make this process easier than ever. With 24/7, live digital tracking systems that offer an accurate assessment of your stock levels, the process of demand planning becomes seamless. Whether you’re heading into your busiest period of the year, or anticipating order volumes to slow down, GNOC helps your ecommerce brand stay agile.
Black Friday and the broader festive period brings with it ample opportunity to offer up seasonal deals and discount codes. However, without insight into what products are, and aren’t, selling – it can be a jungle navigating what to include within your promotions.
Demand planning allows brands to identify which products will sell organically and which may benefit from apromotional push. This insight ensures discounts are applied strategically, rather than reactively.
With clear demand forecasts, ecommerce brands can:
The result is smarter promotions that drive revenue without compromising fulfilment performance.
Demand planning doesn’t just optimise your industry; it also plays a crucial role in streamlining your logistics.
If you’re managing a busy ecommerce brand, your couriers will often request forecasts ahead of busy periods, in order to prepare for delivery volumes and assess turnaround times. By supplying accurate demand forecasts, you’re laying the groundworks for your logistics’ smooth transition into busy periods – reducing the risk of missing parcels and delayed shipments.
By utilising your digital tracking and inventory management systems, it’s possible to give your courier network an accurate forecast, well in advance of your peak season. At GNOC, we strive to take the stress out of forecasting entirely, communicating your expected volumes to our network of trusted couriers directly, allowing you to focus on business development.
At GNOC, we understand that the unique pressures ecommerce face during peak season are already a strain on your resources, and team morale. That’s why our fulfilment is grounded in a system that helps to strengthen and clarify your inventory autonomously, so that you can focus on fulfilling orders, and protecting your bottom line.
While our 24/7 digital tracking system does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to your inventory management, we understand that you still need to have an element of control over your ecommerce brand. If things get overwhelming, you have a dedicated team at hand, who can guide you through the process.
Ultimately, demand planning is no longer a welcome bonus, it should be a top priority when selecting a 3PL partner, to entrust with your logistics processes. At GNOC, we’re proud to set our brands up for long-term success,
If your ready to make demand planning effortless, let’s talk, and see how GNOC can give you the edge, this peak season.