Europa Road: our customers predicted this level of volume increase for 2024
In what is expected to be the busiest Christmas for e-commerce on record, with predictions of an increase in online festive shopping by 46 % this year, Europa Warehouse is advising the industry to prepare now for what is set to be an explosion of demand.
Part of logistics firm Europa Worldwide Group, the logistics supplier is expecting to see its e-commerce workload increase by 40% compared with last year, over the coming festive season.
Europa Warehouse Logistics Director, Maria Torrent-March said her customers predicted this level of volume increase for 2024, but the online shopping boom has resulted in a vast increase across Europa’s e-commerce client base. She said: “We feel incredibly fortunate to be in a position where our clients are requesting more from us but managing this can be challenging. We have had to review staffing, space and efficiencies to cater for increased demand that we could never have predicted to be this high when planning earlier on in the year.”
Logistics Director, Maria Torrent-March shares advice on how warehouses can be prepared this Christmas:
Remain compliant: follow the Government advice on PPE, social distancing etc. The health and safety of all staff should remain the priority above everything else
- Warehouse layout: complete a layout review for each area of the warehouse. There may be options to improve organisation, the flow of goods, storage etc to create a more efficient process
- Order projections: work closely with your clients to predict orders and make any necessary alterations in space. Additional storage, pallet racking etc. may need to be introduced
- Staffing: develop a staffing strategy. Ensure current staff been briefed and incentivised to work extra hours and additional staff been hired to cater for increased demand
- Efficiencies: invest in machinery to speed up efficiencies and cater to potential shortages in labour. Alongside this, maintenance of machinery pre and during peak is essential
Maria continues: “Successful logistics operations are reliant on being able to accurately predict consumer demand, but this is by no means as simple as it used to be. Alongside the continued introduction of later and later cut off times, we are also managing the impact of the second lockdown on the retail sector. Logistics businesses must now consider alternative ways to maximise efficiency such as automation – this is the future of warehousing.”
