Did you delay your shipment at Christmas and Chinese New Year? Whenever these two festivals arrive, your shipment from China cannot be delivered within the expected time.
Retailers import most of their goods from China, receive them before the annual holidays, and put them on the shelves to start the sales season. But, when the holiday shipping season arrives, freight delays always occur.
Most people are enjoying the holiday happiness. On the contrary, the holiday is the busiest time of the year for international couriers. So during holidays, for your online shopping, express companies (like UPS, TNT, FedEx, and DHL) will appear in delivery delays. Local delivery companies are faced with great pressure to meet the expectations of Christmas in time.
Many of these retailers rely on top freight forwarders to help their international shipping as effectively as possible. Regardless of your shipping mode, it is important to understand and choose the best shipping time to meet your holiday delivery needs.
Why Do The Shipping Delays Occur On Holidays
The reasons for air cargo delays are unpredictable. Air freight is the most important part of the global supply chain, and many products are air freighted from China to other parts of the world, especially during holidays, air freight is carried out to ensure the timely delivery of the goods.
Air freight is transported by dedicated freighter and passenger flights. Passenger flights have limited cargo capacity to transport cargo and passengers’ luggage.
During the holidays, the demand for air cargo increases greatly, resulting in flights being unable to meet the surge in cargo. Airlines will not increase flights during the peak season for cargo because the routes are fixed. A large amount of air cargo will be waiting in the warehouse for flight pickup, and it will take several days or even more than ten days for airport cargo to digest these order volumes.
In other words, airlines won’t expand their responsiveness to additional demand, and airfreight capacity isn’t fully available. Therefore, shippers encounter shipping delays every year during the peak air shipping season if there is no flight booking in advance.
What Can You Do To Avoid Holiday Shipping Delays?
Almost every year, there is a peak export shipping season during Christmas and before the Chinese Lunar New Year. A large amount of cargo is piled up at the airport cargo terminal.
Therefore, please plan ahead to avoid shipping delays.
Book Air freight in Advance
There is a peak export shipping season during Christmas and before the Chinese Lunar New Year, and a large amount of cargo is piled up at the airport cargo terminal.
Therefore, please plan ahead to avoid shipping delays.
Book Airfreight in Advance
Shippers generally tend to book flights a few days before the cargo needs to be shipped before the holidays. During holidays, if you need on-time delivery, doing so can put a lot of pressure on you, considering unavailable flights or if there are any delays. You may not be able to book a flight for your cargo before the holidays and try to avoid the unpleasant scenario as much as possible. It is to your advantage to book your flight early.
Stock up in advance
Make sure you have enough inventory to pay for the sale. Retailers with years of experience during the peak season can learn from past sales data and predict future sales. The right inventory quantity can withstand holiday delays. If you are an Amazon seller, you must prepare sufficient inventory(Learn more about “Shipping from China to Amazon FBA“).
Make Strategies For the Chinese Lunar New Year
You will find this Chinese Lunar New Year holiday if you import from China. Every year in the month before Christmas, many importers from all over the world buy a lot of goods to cope with the upcoming shopping season, which makes China’s export logistics very busy. If you desperately need your cargo, this will bring you unpredictable shipping delays. The challenges you will encounter.
Your Suppliers Are on Holiday
In addition, the Chinese Lunar New Year is after Christmas. The Spring Festival is a Chinese public holiday, meaning the factory has at least two weeks of downtime, and the Spring Festival transportation begins!
China Logistics Stopped
The Chinese New Year holiday has seven days, and the logistics company will stop working for two weeks. If your delivery date is close to the Chinese New Year, you are very susceptible to the shutdown of the logistics, your goods will miss the deadline. Your goods will be stranded in China for two weeks, and your cargo will be seriously delayed.
If you”p[re serious about Chinese Lunar New Year, try to do long-term work, not just short-term. In order to deliver on time, you need to develop a strategy.
Recommendation: Schedule your shipments in advance to avoid the two busiest holidays for shipping. Your logistics provider helps you figure out a solution where sea freight can save you more on shipping costs than air freight.
Summary
Upon the holidays, an experienced freight company will estimate the delivery time and take measures to ensure that your goods arrive at your destination at the expected time.
Besides, China freight set up a special partnership with airlines to enable you to get stable international freight shipping before the big holidays. Shipping in advance is a better idea to reduce the chance of any delays and reduce freight shipping costs.