Articles
christmas-logistics-guide
Ana Britovšek Kunsek
December 10, 2025
5 min read
Last December, a mid-sized electronics retailer in Germany watched their bestselling product sit 400 kilometres away in a Netherlands warehouse while their customers refreshed “out of stock” pages. They had inventory. They had demand. What they didn’t have was transport capacity to move products when it actually mattered.
Their logistics partner was fully booked with holiday volume and couldn’t prioritise their urgent shipments. By the time the products reached German stores, the shopping window had closed. Revenue was lost and customers were disappointed.
Christmas failures don’t announce themselves in October. They reveal themselves in December when fixing them costs 10x more than preventing them would have.
In this guide, we break down what really works during Europe’s most demanding logistics period and show you how to navigate and master your Christmas logistics for your retail or e-commerce store business.
No theory, just operational reality based on years of running cross-border transport for businesses who have optimised their Christmas logistics peaks successfully.
"Early" in Christmas logistics means August and September, not November when most reliable carriers are fully booked.
Christmas doesn’t slowly increase pressure on your supply chain. It detonates it. Often in around 48–72-hour window around promotional events.
Your holiday logistics infrastructure either handles this surge, or it doesn't. There is no middle ground.
The August-September planning window
This is when reliable carriers still have capacity to fulfil and can accommodate your Christmas logistics needs.
The October refinement phase
By October, you have better demand forecasts based on early promotional results and market signals. Run stress-tests and adjust your booked Christmas transport capacity up or down while slight flexibility still exists.
The November finishing phase
Companies who start planning their Christmas logistics in November discover transport capacity is gone, warehouse space is unavailable, and rates have doubled.
Want detailed information? Download the complete guide now.
Here are some of the most important facts to think about, if you really want to understand peak season shopping and Christmas logistics trends.
While forecasting helps you prepare your business for the peak season and to master your Christmas logistics, learning from past mistakes ensures you don’t repeat what’s already failed. Retailers who plan Christmas logistics based solely on last year’s numbers, over-stock some less popular products while understocking best-selling SKUs. Both mistakes are expensive.
When Christmas is over and operations return to normal in January, there's collective relief to move on. The pressure eases. Teams focus forward. Nobody wants to spend January dissecting December's problems. But that's precisely the time when you should do it.
Gather everyone involved, from operations, logistics, customer service to warehouse staff. Review what worked well and what failed any why.
Want detailed information? Download the complete guide now.
Most Christmas logistics analysis focuses intensely on last-mile delivery, the stage when packages are being delivered to customers' doors. That's where visibility is highest and customer complaints concentrate.
The companies navigating smooth Christmas logistics operations are those, who have recognized that middle-mile optimization matters more than last-mile optimization during end-of-the-year season, because last-mile carriers are generally reliable if products reach their hubs on time.
Traditional freight moves through consolidation hubs where shipments from multiple companies get sorted, combined, and routed. Efficient during normal volumes. Disastrous during holiday peak season.
On the other hand, direct injection bypasses consolidation hubs entirely. Your products move straight from your fulfilment centre to the destination distribution hub with no sorting and no competing with other companies’ Christmas volumes for processing priority.
Want detailed information? Download the complete guide now.
Your warehouse capacity during normal operations is too small to serve your Christmas season needs and its logistics challenges.
When your order volumes increase 5-10x, your existing warehouse cannot handle them all. You’ll need to expand capacity strategically, otherwise your business will face bottlenecks. This is not a criticism, it’s pure math.
Partner with third-party logistics providers (3PLs) who offer flexible warehouse space for peak seasons. They specialize in absorbing short-term volume surges without requiring long-term facility commitments.
In case the above option is a no-go for your business, distribute inventory across multiple regional locations before peak season begins. Products stored closer to customers reduce last-mile delivery time.
If your primary fulfilment centre faces unexpected issues, regional inventory provides backup. If one region's demand exceeds forecasts while another region's demand falls short, you can quickly rebalance with short inter-regional movements rather than long central-warehouse-to-customer shipments.
Automation helps. Technology helps. But to successfully navigate Christmas logistics, your business needs people; warehouse staff, drivers, dispatchers, customers service teams.
Start hiring temporary peak-season workers in October, not in November. Quality candidates get employed early. If you wait until November, you will only hire whoever’s still available, not who’s still qualified.
Allow at least three weeks for onboarding and training before holiday season frenzy begins.
Want detailed information? Download the complete guide now.
Christmas delivery expectations are high. Customers want fast, reliable delivery, and they want updates in real-time.
Set realistic expectations at checkout. If you can't guarantee next-day delivery in the day before Christmas, don't promise it. Better to under-promise and over-deliver than create disappointment.
When problems occur, and they will, communicate immediately.
Train customer service teams specifically for peak-season scenarios. Trust us, they will need them.
Returns spike after Christmas. Plan for this surge in advance.
All these strategies work only if you're partnering with logistics providers who can execute them.
Want detailed information? Download the complete guide now.
Your logistics partner choice matters more during Christmas than at any other time of the year!
Evaluate their Christmas logistics capacity planning approach and look for their proven peak-season logistics experience before you say “yes”.
Consider dedicated van delivery service. Shared freight becomes unreliable under peak pressure. On the other hand, dedicated vans ensure your shipments move on your schedule without competing with other customers' Christmas volumes.
At Van Express, we’ve built our express van delivery services specifically for retail and e-commerce business requirements around peak-season. With our expert solutions, Van Express provides cross-border transport, which bypasses the consolidation hub delays that overwhelm many shared freights during Christmas.
We allocate Christmas capacity months ahead and maintain backup options throughout December operations. Because when plan changes during peak season, having an alternative ready matters more than having perfect predictions.
Secure your December delivery now!
Here’s your last chance to read the complete guide and master your Christmas logistics challenges. You can thank us later.
Disfrute de una logística perfecta y adaptada a sus necesidades. Póngase en contacto con nosotros hoy mismo para reservar su entrega o para obtener más información sobre nuestros servicios.
