How beauty brands can successfully handle the high traffic volumes and meet the surge in demand during festival season
With the festive season upon us, expenditure is mounting across all cities and all income levels. People are keen to invest in festive looks, and this is especially true when it comes to beauty and cosmetics. In 2023, Diwali witnessed a 51% increase in orders for beauty and cosmetic products. This is excellent news for Indian beauty brands — but there is also the challenge of handling the higher volume of orders on time, and without error.
Addressing this challenge calls for beauty brands to invest in supply chain planning. Strategic planning, data analysis, and investing in technology such as inventory management systems can be extremely helpful when it comes to stocking up, anticipating demand patterns, and planning the best delivery routes.
Adopting well-thought-out strategies can successfully help meet the high festive demand. These include:
Early inventory stocking
Beauty brands can look into past trends of which colours, editions, and categories of beauty products are most likely to sell well during the festive season. They can also leverage predictive analytics to see which looks are trending among customers and makeup artists in 2024. They can then proactively stock up on those items to avoid running out of stock during peak demand periods.
Demand forecasting Â
In addition to stockouts, dealing with excess inventory of unsold goods is another problem retailers face during the festive season. The solution is to forecast demand patterns so that beauty brands can get appropriate quantities of each item, and thus avoid dealing with excess storage costs. Brands can also proactively review inventory levels and highlight products that could potentially be bundled or discounted for better sales.
Leveraging analytics for supply chain planning
AI-powered supply chain management tools can help analyse traffic patterns during peak season to chalk out the most optimal route for each delivery. The beauty brand can then work with logistics partners to assign a suitable delivery executive.
Optimising warehouse layout
A simple yet powerful way to speed up order processing is by arranging products efficiently before the festive season so that the popular products are easy to access. Warehouse staff should also be trained on the different categories of stock-keeping units (SKUs) and where they are stored so that they can gather and pack even large orders without difficulty.
Investing in last-mile delivery
Last-mile delivery is key to ensuring that orders are delivered on time and in good condition. Beauty brands can invest in technology that optimises last-mile delivery, including automated route planning, live order tracking, and predictive shipping to help anticipate orders and thus reduce delivery times. They can also opt for eco-friendly last-mile delivery options, thus improving their sustainability. Consumers today are conscious about the environmental impact of their shopping, and will thus be likelier to purchase from a beauty brand that prioritises reducing its carbon footprint.
Collaborating with logistics partners
Maintaining open lines of communication with logistics partners is key to ensuring that orders can be fulfilled on time despite higher traffic conditions, even in remote pin codes. Automated inventory management software can help brands identify vendors by location and assign orders to them based on delivery location and priority. In addition, the brand can collaborate with logistics partners to leverage their experience and insights on strategies to improve delivery times.
In-store traffic managementÂ
While planning for on-time deliveries, it is important to prioritise the in-store experience as well. Beauty brands can track customer movements and browsing patterns and understand what drives their purchase behaviour. This can help the brand with important decisions like how to plan their product layout, how much to stock for each SKU, and how many store employees to hire to ensure that delays are minimal even during peak season. In-store buying patterns are also a valuable source of data for online inventory management, as many customers choose to try out makeup in person and then complete the purchase online.
Beauty products are a popular gift for sisters, wives and other relatives, and also a much-coveted purchase for women looking to treat themselves during the festive season. With a structured order fulfilment strategy and the judicious use of technology, beauty brands can successfully meet the seasonal surge in demand by identifying optimal delivery routes, demand patterns, and SKU quantities, thereby ensuring that customers always have timely access to the season’s most desirable beauty looks.
