Why Claims Automation Matters in Peak Ecommerce
Peak e-commerce season is peak revenue season - with many e-commerce businesses making a third of their annual revenue in just two months.
But peak e-commerce season is also peak shipping season - with the risk of lost, damaged and delayed deliveries going up 41%.
For e-commerce businesses planning their peak season operations, claims automation not only handles this surge in delivery issues for you, but also enables you to free up your customer team's time, improve customer satisfaction and maximise profits in peak season. Here's what you need to know.
1. Plan for the peak season surge in shipping issues
In the build-up to peak season, ocean and air freight gets increasingly busy and unreliable. If you manufacture your goods overseas, you know it's best practice to have orders sent in August/September to arrive in time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
But during peak season, it's last-mile delivery that gets increasingly busy and unreliable (just when your orders spike) and it's best practice to plan ahead too.
Dealing with 2-3x more orders during peak season - as well as heightened customer expectations (i.e. next day delivery) and testing weather conditions (in the Northern hemisphere) - couriers often buckle under pressure. Even with extra hires (i.e. Royal Mail hired 16,000 temporary workers for peak season 2024), couriers are 32% more likely to lose a package in peak season (21% more likely in December and 41% in November) than the rest of the year.
What's more, this surge in delivery issues plays out in our data too. In peak season last year, our system processed a huge rise in claims with over 5x more claims in mid December 2024 than the end of August.
2. Plan for fulfilment and unfulfillment
From inventory management to warehousing, most e-commerce companies plan for efficient fulfilment during peak season to avoid delays, stockouts, and customer dissatisfaction.
But planning for unfulfillment is just as important.
52% of buyers hold the retailer responsible for delivery issues (not the courier) and 24% won't buy from a retailer again after a bad experience. As such, unfulfilled deliveries in peak season - be they lost, damaged or delayed - can negatively impact your revenue generation well beyond December.
That's why e-commerce companies that ship thousands of orders during peak season are turning to claims automation to minimise delivery issues and maximise the value of each online purchase.
3. Plan for a profitable peak season with claims automation
Chances are, you already use AI or automation for demand forecasting and inventory management, but what about claims handling?
No matter which courier you use for last-mile delivery, automating claims for peak season delivery issues helps you:
Free up your customer team. Instead of manually filing claims, claims automation frees your team to focus on customer service and fulfilment in peak season. For example, nutrition brand Bulk has saved 80% on claims processing time since using Claimit, while fashion brand Oh Polly saved 60%.
Improve customer satisfaction. Claimit's automated system flags potential shipping errors in advance and requests couriers to perform manual checks, often fixing the issue before the customer realises. If the problem is unsolvable, you can warn customers in advance (averting a nasty surprise) and use the claims compensation to offer discounts.
Maximise profits. In peak season, sales can grow 2-3x more than other months, so make sure you retain as much of that revenue as possible by using claims automation to recoup compensation for lost or damaged shipments. For example, Emma Bridgewater receives £10,000 per month of claims credits with Claimit.
"Claimit's excellent platform helps our business seamlessly handle invoice discrepancy claims as well as using their Shopify plug-in to file lost and damaged claims in just a couple of clicks. The results have been amazing—we're now recovering significant credits each month." Logistics Director, Emma Bridgewater
Get 2026 off to a flying start with Claimit
Peak season can lay the foundation for a successful year to come - but only if your team is working at full capacity and your logistics operations run smoothly.
To prepare for a successful peak season, learn more about how courier claims automation could benefit your business.
