Yes, it’s that time already.
As soon as the Halloween candy is cleared from the shelves—and, really, even months before—retailers and shippers are preparing for the most profitable shopping season of the year.
From new apps to thousands of additional workers, here's how some of the biggest players in the retail space are ramping up for the holidays.
UPS, FedEx, and USPS
Many shippers and retailers still have painful memories of the 2013 holiday season, when thousands of consumers failed to receive their last-minute deliveries ahead of Christmas.
With predictions of holiday season deliveries to rise 8.8% this year, UPS will be hiring as many as 95,000 additional seasonal workers—10,000 more than last year—and add 50 shifts to its hubs in the U.S. FedEx, meanwhile, plans to hire 50,000 seasonal workers, up from 40,000 last year.
Not one to be left behind, the United States Postal Service recently announced that it will make deliveries seven days a week starting Nov. 17 through Christmas Day.
Amazon
One or even two days of Thanksgiving sales are apparently not enough for Amazon.
The company will be running holidays for the whole month of November as part of its "Black November" promotion. The e-commerce giant is also hiring 80,000 seasonal workers—14% more than last year—to avoid the difficulties it experienced last year in the days leading up to Christmas.
And in a move that seems to go against its online model, Amazon is opening physical stores in California and New York City for the holiday season. Though details of the New York location have yet to be revealed, sources say that it will mostly be a shipping center to help aid in same-day delivery and online pickup.
Target
Setting the bar for retailers, Target is offering free shipping on any online order through Dec. 20. The company also announced that it will offer 3D printing for holiday gifts through a test partnership with Shapeways, a 3D printing company, and launched a new wish list app for shoppers.
Kohl’s
Kohl's is implementing changes to its loyalty program in time for the holiday season, Kohl’s EVP of digital innovation Ratnakar Lavu hinted at the shop.org summit last month.
That turned out to be true. Kohl’s new “Yes2You” Rewards program will allow customers to share points collected with family and friends also using the program, as well as donate to Kohl’s Care charity program. The retailer’s updated app also integrates the rewards program within its mobile wallet, which can be used in stores.
Wal-Mart
The global retailer recently announced it is testing price matching with online competitors in select locations, although it is unclear if this policy will roll out to all stores before the holidays.
Mirroring Amazon, the retailer has already lowered prices of more than 20,000 products in its stores and will hire 60,000 seasonal workers—less than both Kohl’s and Target, which are hiring 67,000 and 70,000 holiday workers, respectively.
Wal-Mart is also working with carriers to predict demand and has committed to specific shipment volumes for the holiday season, according to the New York Times.
West Coast ports
Storage at West Coast ports is 90% full following ongoing labor negotiations between longshoreman labor unions and West Coast terminal operators. Although most Christmas merchandise has already been delivered to many stores, the decreased operations at the ports could affect last-minute supplies of hot products. Many retailers are keeping an eye on a tentative deal between the two groups.