Why you need a reliable order partner all year long

 

The end of the year often sees widespread factory and office closures as people take their much-deserved holiday breaks. But just because it’s Christmas or Chinese New Year, that doesn’t mean your work stops.

To maintain consistency along your sales funnel, you need a reliable order partner who won’t leave you in the lurch over the holiday season.

 

The holiday season can break businesses

Consider how even the smallest delay in production could impact your business. Urgent holiday orders are unfulfilled. Customers get unhappy about the poor service – despite your best efforts. And the long-term damage goes beyond merely financial problems, and negatively affects your reputation and brand image.

Because supply delays are so common over the holidays, you need to be certain your order partner is reliable and communicative about any time they will not be available for production. That goes double for big holidays like Christmas and Chinese New Year that often see a surge in customer orders.

 

Never underestimate the value of a stop-gap partner

As a business owner, risk is part of your everyday life. You balance risks like production delays, supply issues and sales fluctuations against your overall business strategy. But that strategy shouldn’t be set-and-forget. It should be a living, breathing document that you constantly review and update based on what’s happening in the market.

One major risk-mitigation strategy over the holiday season is partnering with suppliers who are flexible and can meet your unique business demands. Even if you have a regular supplier, it pays to research potential ‘stop-gap’ partners who can act as a back-up if you ever have production issues with your first choice. At Luminar, for example, we are a next-level partner that provides flexible packaging and label print solutions that will be quoted and turned around incredible quickly – even during the holidays.

 

Overseas versus local

Especially for SMEs that are constantly juggling tight margins, the lower cost of a supplier overseas may appear to be the best solution. After all, if their product meets your quality expectations and their prices beat out any local competition, then it makes sense to partner with them even if your orders are slightly slower to ship.

But what happens when your packaging supplier in Singapore, for example, shuts down for a week or more over Chinese New Year? It may be common knowledge for their own local customers, but for you it may come as an unexpected surprise – and that can leave your orders delayed and your customers unimpressed.

Don’t get caught out by factory shutdowns and delayed logistics due to overseas partners who fail to communicate consistently. Even though the overall cost of purchase may be higher with a local partner, the value they can bring – and the speed at which they can turn around your orders – is priceless by comparison. Better yet, it will put your mind at ease that even last-minute orders over the holidays will be fulfilled speedily.

 

As things start to wind down towards the end of the year, it’s more important than ever to start having these conversations about how your business will operate over the holiday season. If you want a reliable order partner who will be there for you all year long, contact Luminar on (02) 9634 3100 or get a quick quote today.