Smart Mobile Technology Support Helps Retailers’ Supply Chain Rise to the Challenge of Cyber Monday

Remember when “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” were actual shopping days that generated excitement due to how singular they were in the minds of customers?

Now, of course, these two events are brands unto themselves, and the sales associated with them span a number of days and weeks in an effort to maximize both sales and consumer enthusiasm. One might even say it’s calendar-agnostic as “Cyber Week” (the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday) and “Cyber Week II” (the five-day period from Dec. 26 to Dec. 31) are carry similar buzzy recognition for shoppers, as do “pre”-Black Friday sales earlier in November.

That doesn’t mean that the actual day of Cyber Monday is just another day, however. Quite to the contrary, last year’s Cyber Monday was the largest online shopping day in United States history. Even for a behemoth like Amazon who brands and promotes their own internal Prime Day, Cyber Monday still dwarfs it in sales volume.

So, what’s the key to maximizing your Cyber Monday omnichannel sales and creating happy, repeat customers?

Leveraging social media channels like Facebook and Instagram to generate awareness?

Optimizing your site usability and checkout speed?

Engaging influencers?

Direct emails?

None of it has any value if your supply chain isn’t ready to scale up. But no logistics operation can handle the strain of that demand if its employees and their tools aren’t supported properly. Whether its tablets, barcode scanners, printers or the platforms that make them work together properly, there are multiple points of failure for your day-to-day supply chain operations. Providing flexible support and rapid response to these needs in real-time is the operation behind the operation, and nothing matters more when it comes to ensuring the integrity of your Cyber Monday supply chain.

Retailers realize that it’s next to impossible to deliver in both of these areas at the same time on the biggest online shopping day of the year.  That’s why they’re increasingly engaging in partnerships with managed mobility service (MMS) providers who can manage their daily mobility duties, rapidly respond to support needs, and help implement those transformative mobile technologies across the entire supply chain process.

Minimizing operational downtime has never been more important to the viability of your online supply chain and logistics operations. Making your Cyber Monday customers happy starts with making smart mobile technology support programs to keep your employees and facilities running better for longer.