How To Prepare Your Dropshipping Store For Chinese New Year 2024

Last updated 2024/03/15
Published 2022/12/19

 

Introduction

The Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in China which is not less influential than Christmas. It’s also called the Spring Festival. Everyone returns to be with families and friends. And since you are dropshipping with Chinese suppliers, supply and fulfillment will be challenging in the near future. Now’s the time for store owners to understand and prepare for its effects.

 

 

How Will Chinese New Year Affect Your Dropshipping Stores?

 

The Chinese New Year (CNY) 2024 falls on Sunday, January 22nd. However, in the weeks before and after, factories and businesses are likely to operate at reduced capacity or possibly shut down completely for the biggest migration on the planet.

 

The current relaxation of pandemic prevention and control policy is also a key factor. Zhong Nanshan, one of China's leading respiratory experts, said models predict that the infection peak will likely arrive late next month and in early February. That will overlap with the 2024 Lunar New Year holidays.

 

The global effects will be felt in product shortages, shipment delays, and a slow resumption of production.

 

Product Shortage

The official national holiday lasts 7 days. However, factories will be off work much earlier. Employers often give workers more time to travel to their respective hometowns. Only a backbone workforce will work in the factories by the last week. It means there will be a product shortage for a period of time.

 

Looking back over the past year, factory owners will be planning to adjust the production line. The inventory clearance strategy adopted by some factories will amplify the shortage. With that in mind, orders from retailers will flood in about 1-2 weeks before the Chinese New Year.

 

 

Shipment Delays

Transport, at the same time, will face demanding pressure at home and abroad. Although all departments have crews working in shifts, the lack of labor will inevitably cause shipment delays.

 

 

Manufacturing Delays

While Chinese New Year is officially only a week long, most operations will be reeling from the sheer demand for a few weeks after the event.

 

At the start of a new year, many people will consider new job opportunities. And a lot of people may stay in their home cities. Employees will take the chance to optimize the workforce. Therefore, there will be a transfer period of working labor. 

 

It may take up to a month for businesses to reach pre-holiday production levels.

 

Therefore, every drop shipper must have a backup plan to support your business during this time.

 

How to Prepare Your Store to Avoid the Inconvenience?

 

Purchase Inventory in Advance

If you don’t want your business to be affected, you can purchase inventory in advance. That said, it is best to order an additional amount for those in-demand products.

 

If you do not know how many products you should prepare, you can make a list and calculate how many products you sold every month and then purchase the same amount. Because the Chinese New Year period will last for an entire month. Having a month's supply will help you weather the period smoothly.

 

Communication with suppliers is vital because managing inventory well requires mutual effort. Goshippro has experience dealing with the rush. Therefore, it is always best to communicate concerns and issues directly with your personal agent.

 

With Goshippro, you have multiple choices of warehouses to store.

 

1. Use China Warehouses

Goshippro has two warehouses in Zhejiang and Shenzhen. They are both free to use. We have arranged for employees and part-time to remain at their posts to ensure the smooth running of the business. The payment of remuneration will be performed in strict accordance with the law. Warm employee care is also essential.

 

2. Use International Warehouses

To transfer the pressure of national harbor, we suggest you prepare goods in our overseas warehouses. This will ensure that your business runs as usual to the greatest extent. They are available in the US and EU. Please consult your personal Goshippro agent for details.

 

 

If a product is selling well, you can ask if any special lines are working during the holiday.

 

Shopify Store Preparation

Things don't just happen in isolation. Even with proper preparation, shipment delays are unavoidable during this time of the year. It’s better to set the buyer’s expectations in advance. There are a few actions that you can take on your Shopify stores to let your customers know about the expected delays. Here are the solutions:

 

1. Update The Announcement Bar

The announcement bar is a good place to let people notice the free shipping and special discounts. During the Chinese New Year, you can also let customers be aware of upcoming shipping delays.

 

 

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online StoreThemes.
  2. Find the theme that you want to edit, and then click Customize.
  3. Under Announcement bar, click Announcement.
  4. Enter your announcement text.
  5. Using the dropdown options, select a color from your theme settings.
  6. Click Save.

 

One version for the text is "We Are Expecting Temporary Shipping Delays During The Chinese New Year Holiday".

 

If you want to make more operations to the announcement bar, you can refer to the complete tutorial in the Shopify Help Center.

 

2. Update The Product Pages

The second change you can do is on the product pages. When the shipping delay is assured, “Presell” is a reasonable explanation. You can also leave a brief note under the product description.

 

We prepare a sample for you.

 

Notice: Unfortunately there is a slight delay in shipping times because of some issues with our carrier and Covid, but be assured that your package will arrive within the next 1-2 weeks.

 

3. Send Email Notifications

After the Purchase Shopify Email allows you to send 10,000 emails per month. You can use Shopify Email to create email marketing campaigns and send them from Shopify. You can design your emails to match your brand and link directly to products to share them with your customers. If you already use email marketing for your store, adding a delay notice will be much easier.

 

With these actions, your jobs will become easier and smoother to maintain throughout the holiday season.

 

Prepare For The Next Year

And it's also a time to plan for the next year. We shared the One Financial Year of Dropshipper in our subreddit r/GSPdropshipping before. Hope it can help you find a comfortable rhythm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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