Midland Pallet Trucks Urges Warehouse Managers to Prepare for Surge in Returns After Busy Festive Period

As online orders come in higher than ever before over the Christmas period, manual handling equipment provider, Midland Pallet Trucks, is urging warehouse managers to prepare for a busy January ahead thanks to an upcoming surge in product returns.

In the UK, 93% of consumers visited an online retail store in the past 30 days [1]. This change in shopping habits has largely been caused by the pandemic, but over the recent Christmas shopping period, online orders are expected to have been higher than ever. This creates a golden opportunity for online retailers, but an incoming challenge for the logistics industry as the number of returns is expected to soar throughout the month of January.

Warehouses can expect to see an increase in returned products from UK shoppers looking to rid themselves of unwanted gifts from the holiday period as well as retailers looking to remove Christmas gifts and excess stock from stores. This is going to put further pressure on the logistics industry to handle the high demand for takebacks in a timely manner, says Midland Pallet Trucks.

To deal with this influx of returns, warehouses are being urged to stock up on vital manual handling equipment to lift and transport items around their facilities. Thanks to Midland Pallet Truck’s centrally located distribution centre, equipment like pallet trucks, manual stacker trucks and lift tables can be shipped on the same day, keeping warehouses prepared for the busy month ahead.

Phil Chesworth, Managing Director of Midland Pallet Trucks says “Every year, we can always expect to see a pretty large amount of product returns making their way through the warehousing system across the UK, but the next month is going to busier than ever. Seasonal demand and Christmas purchases are going to be putting more pressure on the industry, meaning that warehouses really need to be prepared if they want everything to run smoothly.

Having a range of effective, good quality manual handling equipment is an essential in any warehouse to keep returns moving and deliveries on track. Many of our products are available for immediate dispatch for any warehouses looking to stock up early in preparation for the January rush.”

To find out more about the wide range of lift equipment available from Midland Pallet Trucks, visit https://www.midlandpallettrucks.com/

References

[1] Statista. 2021. UK: internet commerce activities by device 2020. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/507430/leading-online-commerce-activities-in-the-united-kingdom-uk-by-category