Here we go again into another holiday season and the list of risks that could affect this season are mounting for us, you, and your detailing business. At the time I started to write this, Iran launched a missile strike on Israel, and a port strike started (10/1/24) down the US East Coast and Gulf Coast ports. And let’s not forget about hurricane season. Hurricane Helene just tore through the southeastern US. All this is happening right before the holiday shopping season!

Billions in trade came to a screeching halt at U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports after members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, or ILA, began walking off the job after 12:01 a.m. ET on Tuesday.

– East and Gulf coast ports strike, with ILA longshoremen walking off job from New England to Texas, stranding billions in trade by Lori Ann LaRocco

Update: The port strike ended after a deal was met and people were back to work on Friday morning. Fortunately the strike didn’t last long to limit the affects to all those incoming shipments.

• A return to normal will take days
  But it will still take a while for the flow of goods to return to normal. Ahead of the strike various logistics experts had said it would take three to five days to recover from any one day the ports were shut.
  – The port strike is over. Here’s what happens next by Chris Isidore and Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN

• The rest of the article is still relevant as we approach the holiday shipping season

So what do we have going on in 2024 so far:

• Port Strike: On the US East Coast and Gulf Coast
• Geopolitical Risk: New and current wars, and it’s an US election year
• Hurricane Helene has already damaged transportation infrastructure in the Southeastern US
• SEMA Show 2024 starts on November 5th
• Shortened holiday shopping season from the latest day Thanksgiving can land on, November 28th

Most of the aforementioned isn’t new, but you can see a combination and multiple instances of some of them can create chaotic shipping scenarios. The port strike is the more unique one that could weigh heavy depending how long it goes.

Now this gives me a flashback of the pandemic breaking supply chains worldwide. I wrote an article 3 years ago, Holiday Season: Shopping Tips, Broken Supply Chains, & More, is mostly still relevant today. Unfortunately, as we finally see our supply chain get back to normal, all the risks I mention could create some delays.

At the start of the pandemic, Mike Cardenas also wrote a great article on shipping delays, Detailing: Shipping Delays in Today’s E-Commerce World, that got me to write more about this subject.

We also have to remember this time of year is when manufacturers in our industry are also preparing for the annual SEMA Show. It’s an exciting time for detailing as new products get announced, but some resources get diverted to the show that could affect order processing times as Mike Cardenas mentions in his special events section of his article.

We have some slightly different risks today but the same tips I wrote about before still apply to limit the effects on you and your detailing business.

Holiday Shopping Tips

Here are some of my holiday shopping tips to manage delays for you and/or your business:

• Product Inventory Management – My first tip for businesses is to read Mike Cardenas’ article on product inventory management. Mike goes through different scenarios, what to keep more in stock, what to keep less in stock, and his tips for managing inventory from his many years of experience. In short, stock what you can and order items you need as early as possible.
• Order Early – Ordering early when possible will help ensure you get your products when you need them. I’m not saying overstock but ordering a little earlier will help you beat the holiday rush and not be behind if a delay in transit occurs. Retailers have taken the strategy to do some holiday sales earlier so it is possible you get the best price before Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Over the years we have been spreading out our promotions to alleviate that 4 day mega rush of the biggest shopping days of the year.
• Pre-order – This is mostly related to ordering at DI. As I mentioned earlier, SEMA is almost here and there will definitely be some great new product announcements. If there is something new that you want in your hands sooner than later I’d recommend pre-ordering so your order is in line to be processed. This helps us project demand better and then order accordingly too. When we put something on pre-order, we’re entering estimated shipping dates that are to the best of our knowledge and those dates do change, this also applies to back-ordered products.
• Contact Customer Service – Our customer service is here to help you. Shoot us a message to ask about any of our products, shipping times or delays, and inventory levels so you can best plan your ordering.
• Set Expectations – I’m all for being upfront and setting realistic expectations. We’re preparing as much as possible to make the holiday shopping season go smoothly for our customers but the reality is not everything goes according to plan. I am aware of all those problems mentioned earlier and set my expectations that some of the things I order will be delayed.

I’m going to stay optimistic, but ultimately, a lot of this is out of our control. What we can do is prepare and shop early to help limit the effects on ourselves and businesses.