Executive Summary
- Fulfillment time dropped 40% compared to 2021
- Transit time is up to 20% lower compared to 2021
- Overall Click to Delivery time decreased by nearly 2 days compared to 2021
2021 was a hard year for supply chains everywhere. Between labor shortages, minimal trucking capacity, new strains and surges of Covid-19, and limited inventories, it’s a true Christmas miracle that gifts made it under trees nationwide. This year has been quiet with no alarm bells jingling about how gifts will arrive on time.
Overall peak season for 2022 has been smooth sailing due to a few key differences:
40% Drop in Fulfillment Times
Fulfillment time measures the amount of time it takes for a retailer to pack and ready an order for shipment once the order is placed. In 2021, warehouses were short-staffed and inventory was scarce. This year, there are fewer staffing issues and many retailers are reporting too much inventory. This has led to a 40% drop in fulfillment time during the week of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which is the peak week of holiday sales. With the increased bandwidth and inventory, it took more than a day less this year to pick and pack orders for shipment.
Lower Transit Times
In 2021, trucking capacity was stretched to its limit and it showed with transit times taking longer than usual. This year, retailers continued to diversify their carrier network to increase their capacity and mitigate risks of delays. Carrier network capacity is also in better shape this year. While there are still driver shortages, Covid-19 rates are lower and the drivers in-network are healthier and more able to work. For these reasons, transit times have remained up to 20% lower than this time last year.
Nearly 2 Day Decrease in Click to Delivery Time
Because of the overall improvements to supply chain health, we are seeing a much lower Click to Delivery rate this year. As mentioned in our State of Parcel December Report, we’ve seen some week over week increases mostly driven by transit times, but overall 2022 is showing lower lead time from order to delivery. Peak week in 2022 was nearly 2 days faster than 2021.
Summary
While supply chains have yet to fully recover to pre-covid levels, there has been a massive improvement year over year, which is expected to continue. Thankfully for Santa, he and his elves are not going to have to put in overtime this year to make Christmas happen.
