Shipper’s Guide: Getting Logistics a Seat at the Table.
According to Salesforce, Black Friday 2024 –which expanded to a full “Cyber Week” – online sales in the U.S. rose 7% year-over-year to $17.5 billion.
We continue to see this explosion because, in recent years, Black Friday has become more than a one-day event, oftentimes beginning in early November, with some brands starting their marketing in October. In addition, it has evolved into a global event, spanning online, mobile, and physical channels.
For logistics and supply chain professionals, Black Friday brings both opportunity and risk. Retailers that prepare well in advance—by optimizing their warehousing, inventory, transportation, final-mile, and returns operations—stand the best chance of capturing sales while maintaining service quality and profitability.
At Evans Transportations, we work closely with customers to ensure their supply chain is set up for success several months ahead of the holiday shopping blitz. In sharing best practices, we’ve seen that businesses that implement the following on an ongoing basis are better positioned to manage peak demand and maintain service quality.
Fulfillment and warehousing are considered the foundation for Black Friday readiness. As order volumes spike during this busy period, facilities must manage rapid inventory turns and shorter lead times. Preparation should begin months in advance with a thorough review of capacity, labor, and workflow efficiency. Retailers need to assess whether warehousing space is adequate, properly located, and if they have enough workers.
Training temporary workers and cross-training permanent employees to perform multiple roles can help reduce bottlenecks and keep fulfillment running smoothly. Baseline technology is important from inventory accuracy, packaging planning, and order and shipment manifest, but many retailers are also turning to automation to manage peak volumes better. Automated storage and retrieval systems, robotic picking, and conveyor sorting can improve speed and accuracy.
Retailers must ensure they have enough inventory to meet demand. Data-driven forecasting is important to achieving this balance. Retailers should analyze historical sales patterns alongside current market trends, promotions, and consumer sentiment to identify which products will drive peak sales. AI-powered forecasting tools can refine these predictions and help determine where to position inventory geographically.
Inventory placement closer to major population centers helps reduce delivery times and shipping costs. Some retailers are also deploying micro-fulfillment centers or using stores as mini-distribution hubs to fulfill online orders locally.
Transportation is another important part of the Black Friday planning. During the peak holiday season, for example, capacity can be tight and rates may rise. Sharing detailed demand forecasts with carriers helps them plan capacity and reduces the likelihood of service disruptions. Retailers that engage early with their transportation partners can secure better pricing and guaranteed space. In addition, diversifying modes such as truckload, less-than-truckload, and intermodal options adds resilience to the network.
It is critical to understand fully loaded shipping costs, including any peak season or demand surcharges and fluctuations in costs like fuel. Holiday promotions often tied to heavy discounts or free delivery can have a dramatic impact on the profitability of individual products. Shippers who understand their margin at a SKU level will be in the best position to plan financially for a successful Black Friday and holiday season.
Using a transportation management system (TMS) enables companies to route shipments, select the most cost-effective mode, and track deliveries in real time. The right systems can also integrate with customer facing tools to provide “Where Is My Order” updated and proactive tracking messaging.
The final mile is where customer expectations are truly tested. The holiday peak season is one of the busiest periods for last-mile carriers and providers. According to industry estimates, the parcel industry delivered over 2.2 billion parcels during the December 1–31, 2024, peak period.
As consumers increasingly expect same-day or next-day delivery, retailers should plan for flexible and scalable last-mile operations. Diversifying final-mile delivery partners, for example, is one way to ensure reliability, coverage and various delivery service options including 'free shipping'. Ship-from-store models utilizing local couriers or crowd-sourced platforms are also popularas are third-party drop-off locations such as lockers.
Expanding partnerships can help manage costs as well as plan capacity and time-in-transit expectations.
Returns management is another essential part of Black Friday planning. When sales volume increases, so do returns. According to the National Retail Federation, an estimated 19.3% of online sales will be returned in 2025, and that percentage will likely be even higher for Black Friday.
Retailers that neglect their reverse logistics operations risk overwhelming their networks and losing customer goodwill. A clear, easy-to-understand returns policy should be in place, with multiple return options, including in-store, mail-in, and third-party drop-off points. Operationally, retailers should also prepare dedicated areas within warehouses for returns processing, staffed with trained teams capable of assessing, restocking, or refurbishing returned products.
During Black Friday week, real-time dashboards and daily departmental check-ins can help identify issues early and keep operations running smoothly. After the season ends, conducting a post-event analysis to capture lessons learned is key to continuous improvement.
Ultimately, preparation defines Black Friday success. Top retailers treat Black Friday not as a one-time event, but as part of a continuous cycle of forecasting, testing, and refining; they invest in technology that enhances visibility, agility, and collaboration across the supply chain. They also secure carrier relationships early, ensure inventory is positioned close to demand, and empower customers with reliable delivery and easy returns. In doing so, they not only survive the peak season but also strengthen their overall supply chain resilience for the year ahead.
Evans helps parcel shippers navigate these challenges by providing end-to-end support across all aspects of peak season operations. From network, technical, and resource planning to SKU-level margin management, carrier partner selection, and modeling peak-season costs, our team works with clients to optimize fulfillment, transportation, final-mile delivery, and returns. We partner with retailers to improve visibility, efficiency, and customer satisfaction, ensuring they are ready for Black Friday.
Contact us to learn how we can specifically help your business prepare for peak periods and strengthen your supply chain resilience. Let us do the heavy lifting – it’s all part of our Evans Experience.
You can’t afford to run your logistics program on autopilot anymore. This guide makes the case for logistics as a major center for cost-savings and customer satisfaction.
© 2025 Evans Transportation, Inc. All rights reserved.