5 Shipping Tips to Prepare for Black Friday & Cyber Monday

In the 2024 Black Friday and Christmas rush, Australia Post handled almost 103 million parcels,  the busiest delivery season on record. Many online retailers couldn’t keep up. Orders piled up in warehouses, and courier slots ran out fast.

One frustrated seller shared, “I had 16 shipments delivered to the warehouse, but none were checked in. The processing speed is too slow.” It’s a common story. When parcels stall, cash flow stalls too.

This guide shares five practical shipping tips to help Australian e-commerce businesses prepare early, avoid delays, and keep orders moving smoothly through Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

How to Prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales

To get ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, focus on planning early, locking in courier space, and keeping customers in the loop.

Here’s a quick checklist to stay ahead of the rush:

• Forecast order volume: Look back at last year’s sales to see which products sold fastest and when. Use that data to order stock early and plan warehouse space before demand peaks.
• Partner with a 3PL: Work with a trusted third-party logistics provider to handle extra packing, picking, and shipping so your team can stay focused on selling.
• Book couriers early: Lock in delivery slots and confirm metro vs. regional cut-off dates.
• Audit shipping processes: Review how you pack, label, and send orders. Add tools that print multi-carrier labels or sync directly with your online store to cut down on mistakes.
• Set clear customer expectations: Display final order dates and share tracking updates through email or SMS.

Preparing early helps you avoid delays, reduce stress, and deliver a smoother experience when sales spike.

Need help managing your Black Friday orders? Couriers & Freight’s 3PL and multi-courier solutions can help you stay organised and deliver on time.

Get Ready for Black Friday Shipping

Avoid delays and sold-out chaos. Stay ahead this season with fast, reliable 3PL and courier solutions from Couriers & Freight.

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1. Plan for Overflow or Partner With a 3PL

When Black Friday and Cyber Monday hit, even the best in-house teams can struggle to keep up. A few hundred extra orders can overwhelm warehouse space, staff, and packing lines, leaving parcels sitting on shelves and courier cut-offs missed.

A third-party logistics (3PL) provider like Couriers & Freight can take that pressure off. They handle storage, picking, packing, dispatch, and returns so your team can stay focused on selling. If you normally ship 300 orders a day, a 3PL can help you manage 1,000 parcels or more without hiring additional staff or renting extra space.

In 2024, online orders in Australia rose by more than 30% during Black Friday week, driving record demand for fulfilment services. The local 3PL market grew 8.3% in the same year to reach $24 billion, proof that more retailers are outsourcing to stay agile.

Partnering early with a logistics provider ensures you’re ready for the rush, with extra capacity, faster dispatch, and customers who actually get their parcels on time.

2. Lock in Courier Partners and Holiday Cut-Off Dates

Plan your Black Friday and Christmas shipping cut-offs early. Courier networks like Australia Post, Toll, Aramex, and FedEx reach full capacity weeks before the holidays, and once they do, even express deliveries can take several extra days

Confirm your courier bookings and final collection dates early. Share your order deadlines clearly across product pages, checkout messages, and confirmation emails so customers know exactly when to order.

For example, a parcel sent from Sydney to Perth may take up to a week longer once courier networks reach peak volume, even with express delivery.

Before the season starts, check each courier’s official holiday cut-off schedule and final lodgement times. Booking early helps you avoid price surges, secure space, and make sure parcels arrive before Christmas.

3. Audit Your Shipping and Fulfilment Process

Run a shipping audit before the rush hits. A quick review now can stop small errors, such as mislabelled parcels or missing SKUs, from turning into hundreds of delayed orders later. Start by checking how your team packs, labels, and dispatches goods. If your team is still typing addresses by hand, it’s time to automate.

Use automation tools to remove manual steps. Multi-courier label printing, barcode scanning, and API integrations with Shopify or WooCommerce can speed up fulfilment and reduce errors. These tools automatically select the right carrier, print accurate labels, and update tracking in real time.

Common trouble spots include:

• Manual data entry mistakes, such as wrong addresses or SKUs
• Mislabelled parcels that slow down sorting
• Poor inventory visibility causes stockouts or incorrect shipments

In busy seasons, failed deliveries are common. In Australia, roughly 1 in 10 parcels fail to arrive on the first delivery attempt. Fixing these gaps early can save hours in rework, reduce costs, and keep customers happy when Black Friday orders start pouring in.

4. Manage Inventory and Warehouse Space Early

Start forecasting early using last year’s bestsellers and seasonal patterns as your guide. Placing your stock closer to your main customer zones, such as Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane. This helps cut delivery times and ease warehouse pressure when orders surge.

Coordinate with your suppliers ahead of time so freight arrives before congestion builds up at ports and terminals. If you wait too long, containers can sit offshore for days, leaving your stock stuck and customers waiting.

Regional warehousing makes a big difference. For example, a retailer based in Brisbane might shift part of its inventory north to reduce interstate shipping times, while a Melbourne store could store extra units in Adelaide for faster dispatch. Using 3PL warehouses in major cities lets you scale storage and offer next-day or same-day delivery in metro areas.

A retailer sending parcels to Brisbane could move part of their stock to a local warehouse instead of shipping everything from Sydney. A Melbourne-based store might do the same by keeping extra stock in Adelaide or Geelong to reach customers faster.

Freight & Trade Alliance data shows that some vessels faced delays of up to 10 days in 2024, and freight rates on Asia–Australia routes increased up to elevenfold. With that kind of disruption, planning early is the only way to keep orders moving and customers satisfied.

5. Improve Customer Communication and Tracking

Clear updates keep customers reassured while they wait for their orders. Silence, on the other hand, leads to anxious customers and a flood of “Where’s my order?” messages that slow your team down.

How to keep customers informed:

• Use real-time tracking pages that show courier updates as parcels move through the network.
• Send SMS or email alerts at key milestones, when the order is dispatched, out for delivery, and delivered.
• Add your logo and contact details to tracking messages to build trust and recognition.

Couriers & Freight’s tracking tools pull updates from multiple couriers into one dashboard, making it easier to keep customers informed without switching between systems.

According to Salesforce’s 2024 report, 70% of shoppers say timely updates improve how they see a brand. Proactive communication builds trust, keeps customers coming back, and turns a good delivery into a great experience.

How Couriers & Freight Helps Businesses During Peak Season

Last year, an online retailer based in Adelaide struggled to keep up with orders as Black Friday sales tripled. After connecting its courier network through Couriers & Freight, the business started managing all deliveries and warehouse stock from one dashboard. Within weeks, dispatch times dropped by 40% and on-time deliveries improved by 25%, based on internal client data from 2024.

That same approach now helps hundreds of Australian retailers prepare for peak season. With a single platform for courier bookings, real-time tracking, and 3PL warehousing, Couriers & Freight makes it easier to handle overflow, speed up fulfilment, and give customers visibility at every step.

Get your logistics ready before the rush hits.

Get Ready for Black Friday Shipping

Avoid delays and sold-out chaos. Stay ahead this season with fast, reliable 3PL and courier solutions from Couriers & Freight.

Get a Quote Now