For most people, the start of the holiday season means slowing down. For ecommerce brand owners, it means the opposite: the biggest sales window of the year is about to open, and the only question that matters is whether your operation can handle what’s coming.
Here’s the checklist we give merchants who want to walk into BFCM able to say yes to whatever the season brings — a surge in orders, a promotion that overperforms, a channel that spikes without warning.
#1 Plan Ahead — Further Than You Think You Need To
Some decisions get made on the fly. Your holiday operations plan shouldn’t be one of them. Carve out a dedicated section of your business plan for the end of the year, covering:
- A market analysis specific to the season
- Roles and coverage across the team
- Product assortment, if you’re adding anything new
- A marketing plan across social, email, and paid
- An advertising budget and strategy
- Financial projections for the quarter
- Demand forecasting built on real data, not last year’s guesswork
- A growth and scaling strategy for what happens after the season ends
#2 Study Last Year’s Data Against This Year’s Trends
How did last year’s seasonal sales compare to your baseline? When did they spike, and when did they settle back down? Go deeper than the numbers: what did customer feedback tell you, and what specifically worked or didn’t? Then benchmark that against broader ecommerce trends and how top performers in your category are moving.
#3 Re-Profile Your Customer
Purchase behavior shifts during the holidays — more frequency, more variety, sometimes a completely different buyer showing up. Compare your Q4 customer profile against Q1 through Q3. Will your usual audience carry through, or is there a seasonal shift you need to plan marketing around? If you know your niche well, this is usually a fast read.
#4 Stress-Test Your Current Operation
What worked at last year’s volume might not hold at this year’s. Ask yourself:
- Do you have enough inventory to cover projected demand without gaps?
- If you’re fulfilling in-house, do you have the space, staff, and materials to match the surge?
- Are you working with multiple shipping carriers, so a delay or capacity issue with one doesn’t stall everything?
- Is your team resourced enough to avoid burnout during the busiest weeks?
Most operational failures during peak trace back to one of these gaps, not to bad luck.
#5 Set Clear Expectations With Customers
As BFCM approaches, carriers hit capacity and shipping deadlines tighten fast. A reliable 3PL keeps you ahead of carrier cutoffs, so you can tell customers exactly when to expect their order — and mean it. Clear communication here does double duty: it prevents frustrated customers, and it’s a natural moment to promote upcoming offers with a branded tracking experience.
#6 Understand Peak Surcharges Before They Hit
Order volume spikes, and carriers respond by charging more to protect their margins during the busiest weeks of the year. You can’t avoid surcharges entirely, but you can choose a fulfillment partner that absorbs the complexity for you. ShipMonk’s Virtual Carrier Network automatically selects the most cost-effective carrier for every shipment, so your rates stay predictable even when the carriers’ don’t.
#7 Find a Fulfillment Partner That’s Actually Ready
This is the moment customers expect everything to go right, and a single mis-pick or delay costs more than an unhappy email — it costs a repeat customer. Picking and packing correctly, packing efficiently, choosing the right carrier for the destination, and handling returns without friction — that’s what separates brands that survive BFCM from brands that grow through it. If you’re not confident in your current setup, talk to a fulfillment expert before the season starts, not during it.
Heading Into BFCM
Wherever you land on this checklist, the goal is the same: when the surge hits, you’re not checking twice. You already know your fulfillment can handle it — so the only answer left to give is yes. Check out our two-part Peak Season Guide for more, or contact us for a free demo of ShipMonk’s fulfillment platform.
