In 2024, Santa Claus drives a box truck. Do you have the right “reindeer” in place?

Americans’ shopping habits have been shifting to online ordering for years now, accelerated by COVID-era precautions and bolstered by promises of speedy or even same-day delivery. And while shoppers have returned to brick-and-mortar stores, online shopping is only becoming more dominant as people have come to expect instant, on-demand service and delivery.

CNBC’s December 2023 “All-America Economic Survey” showed that 57% of Americans did their holiday shopping entirely or almost entirely online in 2023. That’s an all-time high percentage, topping even 2020, when ongoing COVID restrictions and cautions drove holiday shoppers to their computers in record numbers. (That year, 55% of Americans did all or most holiday shopping online, breaking 50% for the first time ever.)

All that online ordering translates to a lot more home deliveries. As retailers look toward the busy holiday shopping season, it is vital that they have the right logistics partners to get their goods into customers’ hands and homes.

Working with a third-party logistics company like Aria Logistics can be a real benefit during holiday crunch times, when qualified delivery drivers are at a premium, because we operate with a hybrid delivery model. We work consistently with a reliable network of carriers, as well as home-sale delivery carriers that we subcontract to. We also have a network of travel teams that can plan delivery routes anywhere in the country, including lower-demand destinations, and can temporarily support unexpected bumps in demand.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you’re picking your last-mile delivery partners:

Peak holiday season for retailers is, loosely, the months of November and December, with spikes during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas. To be ready for the last-minute ordering crush, retailers need to have all holiday plans and partnerships in place well ahead of time. You want to start preparing at least 45-60 days in advance, and ideally much earlier than that. That gives you enough time to get service agreements squared away, as well as rates and insurance.

Giving yourself adequate time for the vetting process is a big part of that calculus. When you’re considering a potential new logistics partner, you need to ask lots of questions, like what other companies they deliver for. That can tell you a lot, because if they’re already delivering for a big brand, those companies do significant due diligence when vetting their delivery carriers.

Property damage claims are another important consideration. What is the delivery company’s claims ratio? This is especially important if you’re dealing with big, bulky items or items that must be assembled and/or installed on site. If the delivery team will be spending time in the customer’s home, has the company conducted all the right background checks on those team members? Ask about their track record in terms of delivering undamaged products, of course, but also ask about claims related to damage to the home by the delivery team.

Online shoppers expect to be able to order and receive goods quickly, and often at the last minute. If you are not equipped to serve last-minute holiday shoppers, you’re leaving money on the table.

To make sure your goods get into those customers’ hands on time, you need to layer your logistics solutions. Ideally, retailers will always have more than one delivery carrier in their networks to serve a particular market, but this is exceptionally important during peak seasons when those carriers are also seeing increased demand. Contracting with multiple partners helps ensure your goods will arrive on time even if one of your carriers has a mishap or delay.

You don’t want to keep all your eggs in one basket. Even if it's a lower-volume market and you already have a relationship with a carrier with a proven record of success, it’s ideal to line up at least one reputable back-up. And in markets that have the bandwidth to have more than one “egg” in your basket, definitely develop multiple partnerships.

Having enough coverage for your last-mile deliveries is only part of the picture. You need the right kind of coverage.

If you’re a furniture retailer, for example, your last-mile delivery partner will be assembling that furniture inside the customer’s home, so you want a partner who is experienced in that space. Teams that specialize in furniture delivery typically aren’t going to be experienced in appliance delivery and installation, and vice versa. And it’s the same for fitness equipment, or high-end TVs and electronics.

Especially if you need white glove assembly and delivery, you want to make sure you have delivery partners who specialize in your category. Because if something goes wrong with a delivery or gets damaged during an installation, the customer is going to hold you, the retailer, accountable for it. You and your delivery partners are interchangeable in the customer’s mind, so you need to pick a partner that you’re confident will maintain your standards.

An experienced, customizable logistics partner should also be able to handle niche delivery sectors, either in-house or through third-party partnerships with specialists. Art delivery and piano moving, for example, require unique sets of special skills.

Strategically, the holiday season can be a great time to vet a new delivery partner. It’s an opportunity for retailers and logistics companies to try each other out in a high-pressure situation, to see if they want to establish a more permanent relationship going forward. This can also be a cost-saving strategy. You can often get a good rate during a trial period, because that third-party logistics company is trying to work with you. To get their foot in the door and get you to try them out, they’re often willing to negotiate better rates with fewer restrictions.

You can start by adding a new partner as a contingency plan. Go ahead and add them to your network of delivery partners during the peak season, so in case you do need them, they’re able to quickly dispatch a truck and a delivery team for you without having to pay a premium. It’s the perfect way to try out a new partner while also saving on overall costs, and it instills confidence on both sides. If that relationship works during a peak time or in an emergency, you can be confident that it will also work well under more normal circumstances.

Shoppers’ buying patterns clearly indicate that on-demand home delivery is here to stay. Being able to quickly, cleanly and efficiently deliver goods of every shape and size is crucial to retailers’ continued success in our increasingly online world. Don’t get left behind – make sure you have last-mile partners that will set you up for many years of future success.