Why peaks always catch out the same people
It's not that Black Friday arrives out of the blue. Everyone knows it falls on the last Friday of November. The problem is that many companies wait until the weeks before to talk to their logistics provider, when capacity is already locked in. Booking late means paying more, getting less capacity or working with secondary providers you don't know. November's mistakes are planned in June.
The main logistics peaks of the year in Spain
- Black Friday and Cyber Monday (November): the year's peak for ecommerce. Volume can multiply by 3 or 5 in a single week.
- Christmas campaign (December): high, sustained volume over three weeks, with critical dates such as the 22nd (the National Lottery draw) and the days before the 25th and 5 January.
- January and February sales: a secondary peak with a high volume of returns and new orders.
- Valentine's Day and Mother's Day: short but very intense peaks in sectors such as florists, cosmetics, jewellery and gourmet food.
- Back to school (August-September): relevant for stationery, educational technology and children's fashion.
How to prepare your operation: six concrete steps
Preparing for a logistics peak doesn't start the week before. These are the steps we recommend to our clients:
- Analyse last year's data. How many orders did you handle on peak days? What incidents occurred? In which areas did you fall short? Historical data is the best starting point for planning.
- Talk to your logistics provider 6-8 weeks in advance. Communicate your volume forecasts and negotiate the extra capacity you need before it's booked up.
- Reinforce your packaging stock. Boxes, filling material and labels are the first bottlenecks to show up during a peak. Check your stock with room to spare.
- Prepare your warehouse for speed. Reorganise stock distribution by placing the fastest-moving products in the most accessible positions. Every second in picking is multiplied across hundreds of orders.
- Communicate proactively with your customers. If delivery times will be longer than usual on specific days, tell them before they buy. Managing expectations is cheaper than managing complaints.
- Define a contingency plan. What happens if volume exceeds forecasts by 40%? Do you have a backup second provider? Can you delay certain routes without affecting priority services?
37 years of Christmas campaigns in Madrid
At Sinergia we have been through more than 37 Christmas campaigns. We know that every year is different, but we also know that early preparation always makes the difference. The clients who plan ahead reach December with capacity booked, routes defined and teams ready. Those who come on board late suffer more delays, more incidents and more cost.