For so many businesses the Christmas period – that annual fiesta of shopping and feasting – is the time of peak demand during the year. But this Christmas will be like no other for those in the supply chain.
Being able to deliver for your customers is paramount, not only to allow you to maximise trade and profit when demand is high, but to keep customers happy in the longer term too– because at Christmas the stakes are high and if you let a customer down at this crucial time, the chances are they won’t be back.
Preparing for this period is always demanding – but now with all the ongoing global supply chain issues and huge pressure on labour within the logistics sector, including the HGV driver shortages – Christmas 2021 is shaping up to be a bigger challenge than ever before.
Meeting peak season demand
After two years marked by lockdowns which accelerated the already rapid shift in our purchasing habits, online shopping will be king this Christmas and businesses are expecting to see a massive demand for eCommerce delivery and material handling.
For logistics and material handling companies the ability to temporarily expand their fleets is a must, allowing them to increase delivery capacity in the weeks leading up to the big day. Asset financing options can help businesses do just that, while leaving their all-important capital largely untouched.
So, for example last year Dawsongroup Finance was able to fulfil a major leasing contract worth £15m to supply delivery trucks and trailers for a supermarket chain, enabling the firm’s expansion of delivery capacity over the festive period.
For other businesses that capacity boost could also come from vans, cold stores or the latest material handling technology to ensure warehouses keep running at optimum capacity.
Christmas starts long before December
While it can be tempting to try and keep existing equipment running, older fleets are far more likely to let you down- and a Christmas time breakdown can be especially disastrous.
So, before the festive season begins, it makes sense to upgrade your fleet – and with the right financing or leasing option in place you can bring in the most up to date efficient machinery available, with little in the way of an initial outlay.
When renewing your vehicle fleet, you could even build in an overlap period between the intake of new vehicles and the disposal of the old fleet to give you more vehicles and additional capacity during peak demand in December.
Only by planning ahead can you avoid the last-minute chaos and the potential for costs to start to rise. So, get in touch with us now to discuss the options we have available to help you be prepared, whether that is just with a temporary uplift in delivery capacity or longer-term improvements to your logistics chain.
We’re ready to help your businesses get what it needs to come out on top over Christmas, and talk you through a range of innovative financing options and approaches you might not otherwise have considered.