Peak season can make or break your year. For many retailers and their wholesale suppliers, a large share of annual sales lands in the weeks around Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas — and there is little room for logistics failures when customers are ready to buy.

Yet every year businesses scramble at the last minute, resulting in delayed orders, overwhelmed staff, system problems and disappointed customers. The difference between a smooth peak and a stressful one isn’t luck — it’s preparation.

The complete 90-day peak season checklist

Work through these three phases in order. Critical tasks are marked (critical).

Phase 1 — 90 days out: strategic planning and forecasting (days 1–30)

Analyse historical peak season data (critical) — review the last two to three years of sales to identify trends, peak days and volume patterns. Owner: operations manager. By day 5.
Create demand forecasts (critical) — project weekly order volumes for the peak period using historical data and marketing plans. Owner: inventory manager. By day 10.
Assess current capacity limits (critical) — compare warehouse space, staffing and processing capacity against forecast demand. Owner: warehouse manager. By day 15.
Develop an inventory purchasing plan — set safety stock levels and order early to allow for extended supplier lead times. Owner: procurement. By day 20.
Review your 3PL arrangements (critical) — confirm peak capacity, cut-off times and service expectations with your logistics partner. Owner: logistics lead. By day 25.
Align the marketing calendar — coordinate promotion timing so demand spikes don’t surprise operations. Owner: marketing manager. By day 30.

Phase 2 — 60 days out: operational preparation and team building (days 31–60)

Begin seasonal staff recruitment (critical) — advertise, screen and start onboarding temporary workers. Owner: HR. By day 35.
Optimise warehouse layout — reorganise pick paths and create a dedicated zone for fast movers. Owner: warehouse manager. By day 40.
Update and test technology (critical) — update software, test integrations and confirm systems will handle higher volumes. Owner: IT. By day 45.
Secure additional storage — arrange overflow storage if your forecast needs it. Owner: operations manager. By day 50.
Confirm carrier capacity (critical) — talk to your carriers (or your freight broker) about peak capacity, pickup times and backup options. Owner: shipping manager. By day 55.
Create training materials — write simple, visual guides for seasonal staff. Owner: training coordinator. By day 60.

Phase 3 — 30 days out: final preparations and testing (days 61–90)

Complete staff onboarding (critical) — finish hiring, train seasonal workers and check their skills. Owner: HR. By day 70.
Run full system testing (critical) — test order flow end to end under realistic volumes. Owner: IT. By day 75.
Finalise inventory levels (critical) — make sure peak stock is received, checked and put away. Owner: inventory manager. By day 80.
Create contingency plans (critical) — document what happens if systems fail, stock runs short or weather delays freight. Owner: operations manager. By day 85.
Set up monitoring — agree which numbers you will watch daily during peak and who watches them. Owner: operations analyst. By day 88.
Run a peak simulation (critical) — do a dress rehearsal with a high-volume day across all systems and teams. Owner: operations manager. By day 90.

Peak season performance measures

Pick a small set of KPIs and watch them daily:

Metric	Why it matters in peak	How to protect it
Order processing time	Volumes rise sharply and backlogs build fast	Extra staff and extended hours
Inventory accuracy	A faster pace increases counting errors	Tighter quality controls and training
Shipping accuracy	Rushed packing causes wrong or missing items	Check procedures and scanning
Customer service response	Enquiry volumes jump	Temporary staff and self-service tracking

Five peak season pitfalls

Underestimating volume — leads to overwhelmed operations, delays and unhappy customers. Prevention: forecast conservatively and build in buffer capacity.
Late staff hiring — untrained workers make more errors and create safety risks. Prevention: start recruiting early and allow time for training.
Technology failures — system outages force manual processing and delay orders. Prevention: load test, keep backups and confirm vendor support arrangements.
Inadequate carrier capacity — shipping delays and expensive last-minute bookings. Prevention: confirm capacity with carriers well in advance and have alternatives ready.
Poor communication — missed deadlines and confusion between teams. Prevention: daily briefings, clear escalation paths and shared status updates.

Each of these can quietly erode margin through lost sales, returns, rework and expedited freight.

Peak season emergency response plan

Key contacts

Operations manager — overall coordination and escalations.
IT support — system issues and integrations.
Warehouse supervisor — floor operations and staffing.
Shipping manager — carrier issues and capacity.

If systems go down

Activate backup systems.
Switch to documented manual procedures.
Notify IT support and vendors.
Tell customers about any delays.

If stock runs short

Check alternative stock locations.
Contact suppliers about expedited delivery.
Apply backorder procedures.
Update stock availability on your website.

If staffing falls short

Call in on-call staff.
Extend operating hours if needed.
Use labour-hire agencies.
Prioritise time-critical orders.

Why many businesses use a 3PL for peak season

Peak season is when a 3PL partnership is often most valuable:

Scalability — handle volume spikes without hiring and training your own temporary staff or leasing extra space.
Established processes — experienced teams and routines that have been through peak periods before.
Focus — while your 3PL handles fulfilment, you can concentrate on sales and customers.
Cost predictability — fewer surprises from overtime, temporary labour and emergency space.

How MTM can help

MTM Logistics is a boutique warehousing and fulfilment business in Archerfield, Brisbane. We receive and store your stock, pick and pack orders, and broker freight across our carrier partners — booking each consignment and handing it to the carrier. Clients can use our client portal at connect.mtmlogistics.com.au to see stock on hand values, see inbound and outbound orders, and enter orders to be dispatched.

If peak season is already keeping you up at night, start the conversation early.

Whatever your business moves, we’ll move it.

Peak season preparation: your 90-day checklist