With Black Friday and Cyber Monday (23rd/26th November 2018) just around the corner, businesses are gearing up for what will be yet another busy start to the festive season. Europa Warehouse, a dedicated division of logistics provider, Europa Worldwide Group, is expecting to see its workload increase threefold, specifically across its e-commerce client base.
Last year, a whopping £1.4bn was spent on online sales in the UK on Black Friday – an increase of 11.7 per cent from the year before – and it’s expected these figures will rise again in 2018. Europa Warehouse works with innovative e-tailers, including: Craft Gin Club, the UK’s biggest online subscription company for gin lovers (as seen on Dragon’s Den).
E-commerce clients require quick turnaround times in order to deliver product to consumers on time, meaning speed and efficiency behind the scenes is required. As experts in warehouse operations, Europa Warehouse works closely with its clients to ensure preparations are made well in advance of their peak sales periods.
The company has three award winning facilities and services, based in Dartford, Birmingham and Northampton. To cope with the additional workload this year, temporary staff were hired from as early as September, to start preparing the warehouses. The additional 145 staff will help with responsibilities including: checking stock for damaged or missing items, picking and packing orders and transporting goods.
Maria Torrent-March, Logistics Director for Europa Warehouse, said: “The festive period is our busiest time of the year, so we have to be prepared. This year, to meet the demand for the increase in sales around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we have employed an additional 145 temporary staff.
“More and more, successful logistics operations are reliant on being able to accurately predict consumer demand, which is by no means as simple as it used to be. It is still possible to a point, but the sector needs to be considering alternative ways to maximise efficiency given that consumer demand for later and later order cut off points is on the rise.”
Jon Hulme, Co-Founder & Managing Director at Craft Gin Club, comments: “The festive season is an incredibly busy period for us at Craft Gin Club. Whether it’s existing members stocking up on extra gins for Christmas, new members taking advantage of our amazing Black Friday offers, or generous gift givers buying gift subscriptions for their loved ones, it’s a crucial time for our business. With the help of Europa, we can flexibly adapt to this peak in demand. Their ability to quickly ramp up our fulfilment capability is key, meaning our very high levels of customer satisfaction are maintained, whatever and whenever the demand for great craft gin!”
Europa Worldwide Group is a specialist road, air & sea, warehouse and showfreight operator employing 750 people across 14 sites in the UK, as well as Hong Kong and Belgium, and with representation in 100 countries.