Christmas Eve is right around the corner. Last-minute holiday shoppers are in a rush.

Parents are running into stores for ham, minced pies, and the popular video game. Everything someone desperately looks for might not be there, jeopardizing the ideal Christmas plans. However, thanks to data-driven decision-making, it doesn’t have to be that way.

The holiday season represents a critical period for FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) companies, marked by surging demand, and heightened competition. Effective inventory and resource management is essential to meeting consumer expectations.

The 2024 Deloitte holiday retail survey shows that shoppers in the US plan to spend 8% more than last year. Given that fact, FMCG companies must prepare for a rise in consumer spending during this period. Foot traffic data provides actionable insights to align operations with travel patterns, ensuring optimal stock levels, resource allocation, and happy customers for whom you’ve saved Christmas. 

Understanding seasonal demand patterns 

To prepare global FMCG supply chains for the holiday season, foot traffic data helps businesses see and predict demand patterns. By understanding consumer behavior in retail locations, supply chain managers can spot places that may see demand increases. They can then plan and distribute inventory ahead of time.

You can identify demand patterns by conducting a trend analysis of foot traffic data. It can show peak shopping days and times,cluding Christmas Eve, enabling businesses to dynamically match supply-to-customer flow. Added to that, travel patterns allow you to strategically select store sites based on customer movements to assist in understanding where demand might increase.

Using historical foot traffic data, demand forecasters can predict how upcoming consumers will behave. They can adjust stock levels to prevent shortages or overstocking. For example, during the 2023 holiday season, categories such as clothing stores, department stores, and shopping centers experienced foot traffic increases of 25.1%, 22.8%, and 20.8%, respectively. Understanding these patterns lets businesses better anticipate demand surges and adjust their inventory levels.

Efficient FMCG inventory management

Stockouts lead to missed sales opportunities and overstocking inflates storage costs and ties up capital. During the holiday season, these issues balloon, but they can be avoided with access to foot traffic volume—a great measure for efficient inventory management.

Businesses can manage inventory wisely by looking at foot traffic volume. This way, busy stores stay well-stocked, and slower locations avoid too much stock. It’s about striking the right balance between product availability and operational costs, maximizing profitability during the holiday rush. 

Resource allocation for strategic supply chain operations

Operational efficiency and customer satisfaction are cornerstones of coherent resource allocation. To keep FMCG supply chain operations running as smoothly as Santa’s North Pole workshop businesses can use foot traffic data to support retail staff.

Staff shifts can be matched to busy shopping times to help keep service levels high and prevent bottleneck lines at checkout counters. This is useful when stores expect a rush in the evenings or on weekends.

By working together with retail locations and delivering vital information on incoming stock volume, supply chain managers help stores assign employees to support customer service. This is vital information for the days leading up to Christmas Eve when waves of last-minute shopping are coming in. 

Also, busy stores can be given priority for deliveries. This helps them get their inventory on time and avoid expensive delays. Empty shelves and upset customers are nightmares FMCGs don’t want before Christmas. This data-driven approach allows for confident decision-making for human and logistical resources by maintaining operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. 

The post-holiday analyzing for continuous supply chain improvement

Foot traffic and travel pattern data can be used for a comprehensive analysis. By reviewing foot traffic trends and patterns in behavior during critical periods like Christmas, FMCG supply chain management can reflect on what worked well and where areas need improvement. For example, the data can indicate whether inventory levels matched actual demand and resources were allocated efficiently.

There’s a myriad of factors as to why some locations received more or less traffic than others. It can simply be down to the weather, for instance. However, the learnings you get from foot traffic data help refine strategies for future peak seasons, like optimizing stock levels for specific locations based on customer movements. 

When you’re using data to prepare your supply chain for the holiday season, you aren’t just improving operational efficiency but also positioning yourself better to meet customer needs. By guaranteeing shelves are stocked, resources optimized, and the customer satisfied, you basically embody Santa: delivering joy, satisfaction, and reliability to those who rely on you. All without the red costume, white beard, Rudolph, and the sleigh of course.