A Guide to Peak 2024 - FAQ

A Guide to Peak 2024 - FAQ

Background Information

Every November and December, e-commerce sales reach their peak, driven significantly by Christmas shopping and marked by retail events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The Peak Season will begin on November 11, 2024 and continue until January 6, 2025.

The fourth quarter consistently brings a range of challenges for online sellers. These encompass tasks such as optimising website capacity to handle traffic surges, managing inventory production, and guaranteeing timely order fulfilment. Continue reading to discover the insights gained from the previous year's peak season and the essential measures to take in order to ensure a positive shopping experience for your customers this year.

As we gear up for the peak period, there are several tools we'd like to emphasise that can help mitigate support demands and address many frequently asked questions.

Goods In

.

During the peak period last year, our warehouses prioritise picking and packing orders to get everything despatched on time. We therefore are limiting the following:
  1. Limited inbound availability from Friday 25th November to Wednesday 6th December. For the limited availability, this needs to be booked 3 weeks in advance
  2. No rework such as re-labelling and pre-bundling
To ensure your products are ready to go so that you don’t miss out on any sales, it is best to forecast your order volume for October, November and December, ideally by week. Getting your stock in the warehouse ahead of time will reduce the chance of any errors or delays. Avoid customer disappointment and submit your forecasts using this link. 

To get your stock ready as fast as possible and reduce errors, it is best practice to ensure that your suppliers send single-SKU cartons to avoid delays.

Updated SLAs for goods in during peak:

Process

Standard SLA (Days*)

Peak SLA (Days*)

ASN Book-In

2

6

Returns Book-In

3

7
*Days: Working days (Monday to Friday) 

Order Processing and Order Management

Order Cancellations

Bezos Sellers can automatically cancel orders that have not been sent to the warehouse. Please follow the link to learn more about order cancellation : How to cancel an order

Why can’t I cancel/modify some orders?
When an order is sent to the warehouse, and the products haven't been picked and packed, we are able to cancel/modify it. Nevertheless, it's important to note that if the order has already been packed and placed in the courier collection zone, regrettably, we cannot accommodate any alterations to the order. To find 1 order among all the orders that are awaiting collection by couriers, would delay all other orders that need to be despatched. We recommend informing your customers that they have the option to refuse the delivery, which will result in the order being returned to us at no cost.

Reducing Error by Using the ON HOLD Feature: What is the “ON HOLD” feature?
This feature will automatically hold all orders for e.g. 60 minutes once they have been sent to Bezos, before sending the order to the warehouse to be picked and packed. For more details and how to use the feature, please use the following link: New orders are "on hold" - what is that and why do we do it? You are able to customise the amount of time you want orders to be on hold, e.g. some sellers even use 12 hours to accommodate their requirements.

Warehouse Closure Dates
The warehouse closure dates may be different for each location, and dates might change. Therefore, ensure you regularly check the table below for any updates.

23-Dec
24-Dec
25-Dec
26-Dec
27-Dec
28-Dec
29-Dec
30-Dec
31-Dec
01-Jan
02-Jan
02-Jan
03-Jan
04-Jan
05-Jan

Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Mon
UK-ANT
Closed from 12pm*
Closed
Closed




Closed from 12pm*
Closed





UK-ELO

Closed from 12pm*
Closed
Closed




Closed from 12pm*
Closed





UK-OGD

Closed from 12pm*
Closed
Closed




Closed from 12pm*
Closed





UK-PKT

Closed from 12pm*
Closed
Closed




Closed from 12pm*
Closed





DE-ONT

Closed from 12pm*
Closed
Closed




Closed from 12pm*
Closed





FR-ELO
Closed from 12pm*
Closed
Closed




Closed from 12pm*
Closed





NL-ECC

Closed from 12pm*
Closed
Closed




Closed from 12pm*
Closed





US-WRPNC

Closed from 12pm*
Closed





Closed from 12pm*
Closed





US-WRPCA

Closed from 12pm*
Closed





Closed from 12pm*
Closed





* local time


Delivery: Where Is My Order?

During peak times, it's not just warehouses that face challenges, the parcel carriers find it difficult to keep up with demand and struggle to collect on time throughout peak. Carriers work on a "best effort" basis and therefore it is best to work with adjusted delivery SLAs during peak, which you can read in the table below:

Deliveries

Standard SLAs (Days*)

Peak SLAs (Days*)

Next Day

1

2

Standard

2-3

4-6

International

5-7

8-9

*Days: Working days Monday to Friday)

View & Request Proof of Deliveries in the Seller Portal

To find the delivery status of your orders, simply go to the Seller Portal and in the column "Courier Status" you can see the delivery status. To get a proof of delivery (POD) and detailed tracking information, simply click on the tracking numbers. You can read more about delivery status and proof of delivery in this Help Centre article.

Customer support

Customer support SLAs are in the table below. Please note that our customer support hours of operation are 09:00am to 05:00pm UK time, from Monday to Friday. Our custom service team follows UK bank holidays, which you can find in this link. We will be closed December 25, 26 and January 1. On December 24 and 31 we will close at 12:00pm UK time.

Priority

Standard SLA (Hours*)

Peak SLA (Hours*)

High

3

6

Normal

58


Cut-off dates for delivery before Christmas

For the United Kingdom:
Info

Carrier service details for deliveries before Christmas day:

  1. Parcel Force last despatch date:
    Next Day Services in the UK:     Friday December 20, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm UK
    Standard Services in the UK:     Thursday December 19, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm UK

  2. Royal Mail last despatch date:
    Next Day Services in the UK:     Monday December 23, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm UK
    Standard Services in the UK:     Friday December 20, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm UK
    International EU:     Friday December 13, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm UK
    International RoW:     Wednesday December 21, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm UK

  3. DPD last despatch date: Next Day Services in the UK: Monday December 23, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm UK

Note: Carriers can experience significant delays during the holiday peak season and do not guarantee on time delivery.


For the United States of America:
Info

Carrier service details for deliveries before Christmas day:

  1. USPS last despatch date: Priority: Monday December 16, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm local time Priority Mail Express: Wednesday December 18, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm local time

  2. UPS last despatch date: 3-Day: Tuesday December 17, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm local time
    2-Day:     Thursday December 19, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm local time
    Overnight:     Friday December 20, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm local time

  3. Fedex last despatch date:
    Express Saver:     Tuesday December 17, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm local time
    2-Day:     Thursday December 19, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm local time
    Overnight:     Friday December 20, 2024 for orders received before 12:00pm local time

Note: Carriers can experience significant delays during the holiday peak season and do not guarantee on time delivery.

Please note that carrier service mapping is automated. If you require last minute changes to your carrier service mapping this will likely delay your orders as this is then a manual process.

Returns

Throughout the peak period, returns will not undergo immediate processing due to the substantial amount of orders being returned. The returns procedure involves manual tasks such as unpacking, inspection, and restocking, typically finalised within 72 hours of the return's arrival. However, during peak times, this timeframe might extend to up to 7 days, as the warehouse team prioritises dispatch of your orders on time.


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