The end of the year is fast approaching, and with it, the festive shutdown period. That means that SMEs need to prepare for closing as well as ensuring that Christmas deliveries are sent – and received – on time. SME South Africa spoke to Danie Taljaard, IT Director at Fastway Couriers, to find out their advice.
“As the festive season approaches, preparation is key,” he emphasises. “We support SMEs so that ‘shipping stress’ doesn’t become a bottleneck but rather a competitive advantage.”
Taljaard advises SMEs to focus on the following:
- Forecast and plan early: Analyse your past years’ data (volumes, peak weeks, regions) to estimate how many parcels you expect to ship. The holiday period often sees a surge, so knowing your peak helps you avoid bottlenecks and late orders.
- Set clear cut-offs for order fulfilment: Decide the last ordering date for guaranteed pre-Christmas delivery, and communicate it clearly on all channels (website, social media, email, WhatsApp). This avoids disappointed customers and builds trust.
- Prepare your packaging and labelling in advance: Ensure your parcel packing is efficient, your products are optimised for shipping (size, weight), and you have established automated workflows so you’re not scrambling during volume spikes. With Fastway’s electronic label platform, you can integrate seamlessly, reducing manual errors. Our e-commerce plugins provide the automation that any SME needs to fulfil orders.
- Communicate proactively with your customers: Set expectations about shipping times, highlight any extended cut-off dates, share delivery tracking information, and prepare for potential delays. Happy customers who feel informed tend to be more patient. We offer multiple channels to keep consumers informed of the whereabouts of their parcels.
“In short, plan early, build in cushion capacity, ensure systems are in place, and choose the right courier partner so you’re set to handle the uplift rather than be overwhelmed,” he summarises.”
Choosing the Right Courier Partner
Upon preparing for the holiday season, it is vital to choose the right courier partner.
“You should ask targeted questions to ensure the partner can scale and deliver the service level you need,” he adds. “How these questions are answered will give you insight into a business’s ability to meet your needs.”
Some questions include:
- What is your peak-season capacity and coverage commitments? Ask: Can you handle higher volumes? What is your national reach? What technology is available for tracking, integration, and visibility? Ask: Does your system allow real-time parcel tracking? Can I integrate your API into my e-commerce/ERP?
- What happens if there are delays, failed deliveries, or returns? Ask: What’s your customer service support? How do you handle exceptions? How quickly can you respond to end-customer queries?
- How are costs managed during the holiday surge? Ask: Are there any additional charges? Can I expect a rate increase?
- How do you manage customer-facing communication on behalf of SMEs? Ask: Can you provide the tracking link/status updates to my customer?
By walking through these questions and comparing answers across potential partners, an SME can select a logistics partner who is aligned with their holiday performance goals and avoid surprises when volumes increase.
Automations and Scalability
“Automation and scalable systems are no longer ‘nice-to-haves’ for SMEs preparing for the holiday rush,” Taljaard notes. “They are business-critical. Here’s how they drive efficiency, reduce risk, and deliver a better customer experience, especially during periods of increased demand.”
- Reduced manual work, fewer errors. When you automate label printing, parcel scanning, tracking updates, and hand-offs, you remove a large slice of labour time and minimise mistakes (miss routes, unscanned parcels, lost tracking, unreadable address information).
- Real-time visibility and data-driven decisions. Scalable systems mean you aren’t flying blind. You can see how many parcels are in transit, which zones are slower, how many deliveries failed on the first attempt, etc. With that data, you can proactively adjust capacity where needed.
- Better customer experience. Customers expect tracking links, status updates, and smooth delivery. Automation makes that possible even when you’re shipping thousands of parcels a day. By adopting systems that integrate your e-commerce store, order management, fulfilment, and courier, you deliver a seamless experience.
- Scalable capacity when volume spikes. Systems that handle thousands of parcels per day scale up easily (label batching, route-optimisation, and courier driver scheduling), which means you’re prepared for the holiday surge rather than scrambling for ad hoc fixes.
- Focus remains on growth, not operations. When your systems are streamlined, you can shift your energy to sales, promotions, and customer communications, rather than firefighting shipping issues. For SMEs, that’s a big competitive edge and one less thing to worry about.
“Your logistic provider should not just move parcels. They should help you deliver a branded, customer-centric experience,” Taljaard emphasises. “For SMEs using a courier company such as Fastway, a nationwide depot network, tracking tech, and a focus on small-to-medium business support is a prerequisite. These elements enable the handling of the high-volume holiday season while maintaining service levels that reflect well on your brand.”
