How to Prepare Ecommerce Logistics for
Festive Season Sales in 2025

Step 2: Forecast Demand Like a Pro

Festive shopping is unpredictable. One influencer campaign or flash sale can triple orders overnight. This is why demand forecasting is critical.

• Blend historical data with current trends. Look at last year’s festive season sales, promotional calendars, and customer traffic spikes.
• Advanced forecasting tools, often powered by AI, help predict demand at a regional and SKU level. For example, integrating POS (Point of Sale) and website analytics can reveal upcoming demand in Tier-II cities.

Inventory Management Best Practices:

• A-class products (top sellers): Keep 21–28 days of stock.
• B-class products:: Maintain 14–21 days.
• C-class products: Use just-in-time supply with vendor SLAs.

Align these stocking rules with courier lead times. This improves supply chain management, prevents stockouts, and makes order fulfillment more predictable. (Source: Shipway Blog).

Step 3: Prepare Warehouses for High Volume

Your warehouse is the heart of festive operations. A single bottleneck here delays hundreds of deliveries.

Smart Layout:

• Place fast-moving items close to packing stations to reduce walking time.
• Dedicate specific lines for gift bundles and festive packaging.

Efficient Picking and Packing:

• Use batch picking to collect similar SKUs together.
• Introduce print-at-pick labels to save time at packing desks.
• Add photo-capture before sealing to reduce disputes on fragile items.

3PL Partnerships:

Many businesses rely on 3PL (third-party logistics) providers during festive peaks. A trusted logistics provider adds capacity, ensures faster ecommerce shipping, and reduces the risk of bottlenecks.(Source: Exabytes Blog)

Step 4: Strengthen Order Fulfillment

successful festive season depends on reliable order fulfillment. Every step—from order confirmation to courier handover—must be quick and error-free.

A simple festive order flow:

1. Order received (API, plugin, or manual entry).
2. Picklist generated for staff.
3. Parcel packed, invoice inserted, sealed.
4. Courier auto-assigned using SLA, cost, corridor rules.
5. Handover completed and manifest closed.

Automation Advantage:

Using logistics automation tools for courier management ensures orders always go to the best partner, even when one courier is overloaded. These partners offer shared warehouse management infrastructure, scalable ecommerce logistics support, and reliable order fulfillment without requiring large upfront investments. They are also valuable for handling holiday shipping peaks.

Step 5: Make Last Mile Delivery Count

The last mile delivery is where customer satisfaction peaks—or collapses. During festive weeks, when emotions run high, a single missed delivery can hurt a brand’s reputation. Optimizing last mile delivery is not just about speed but also about accuracy, capacity balancing, and customer-friendly holiday shipping practices.

• Use multiple couriers and pair metro same-day or next-day services with strong Tier-II/III providers.
• Enable address validation and doorstep OTPs to reduce RTO (Return to Origin).
• Share live tracking proactively so customers do not flood support with WISMO calls.

Step 6: Don’t Neglect Reverse Logistics

Returns are as much a part of festive sales as deliveries. If handled well, they can strengthen customer trust.

• Publish a festive-friendly return policy with a slightly extended return window.
• Pre-authorize return labels for certain categories.
• Grade returns upon arrival: resalable, refurbish, or scrap.

Efficient reverse logistics speeds up refunds and restocks resalable items quickly. Studies show 72% of shoppers check return policies before purchase. A simple, tech-enabled return process reduces friction, improves inventory management, and increases repeat purchases.

Step 7: Use Technology as Your Backbone

A strong tech stack ensures you are not firefighting during peaks.

• OMS (Order Management System) and WMS (Warehouse Management System) for smoother orchestration.
• Multi-carrier allocation engine for courier selection.
• Real-time tracking dashboards with SLA monitoring.
• Exception dashboards to quickly resolve stuck orders.

Platforms like IndiSpeed simplify this by offering a unified ecommerce logistics and supply chain management solution without requiring heavy IT investment.

Step 8: Track the Right Metrics

During the festive rush, vanity metrics do not help. Instead, focus on KPIs that directly impact supply chain management, order fulfillment, and last mile delivery operations.

• Promise-to-Ship Time: Target <12 hrs.
• First Attempt Delivery Rate: Aim >88%.
• RTO %: Keep <3% prepaid, <18% COD.
• Damage Rate: Stay below 0.5%.
• WISMO Queries: Less than 6% of total orders.

These metrics ensure your supply chain management is both efficient and customer-friendly.

Step 9: Control Costs Smartly

Festive ecommerce logistics costs can skyrocket if not managed well. Smart warehouse management, packaging strategies, and courier routing help keep margins safe.

• Negotiate courier pricing in slabs based on volume.
• Right-size packaging to reduce volumetric weight.
• Route heavy parcels via surface and keep air for urgent orders.
• Consolidate pickups to reduce first-mile costs.

Step 10: Communicate Proactively

Clear and empathetic communication makes customers more forgiving during delays.

• Order Placed: “Your order will ship within 12 hrs. Tracking link will follow.”
• Delay Notice: “Festive traffic may delay delivery by a day. Track live here.”
• Return Confirmation: “Your prepaid return label is ready. Refund in 3–5 days.”