454 percent more orders than usual to be processed
Cyber Monday is the busiest day of the year for warehouses
Amsterdam – On Cyber Monday (December 1), warehouses are expected to handle 454 percent more orders than on a typical day, according to the annual analysis by logistics SaaS platform Wuunder. This surge is caused by orders accumulating from Friday evening through Monday, all converging on this one day. Mondays are generally already the peak workload in warehouses, and this pressure only increases from November 15 through December 31. Over this period, order volumes are projected to be more than twice the daily average seen from January to September.
Monday, December 1, takes the crown as the busiest day of the season for warehouses, driven by Black Friday week, Cyber Monday, and the last round of Sinterklaas shopping. On this day alone, 26.9 percent of the total processing volume for the peak period (from November 24 through December 5) is expected, meaning that over a quarter of peak workload must be completed in just one of these ten days. The two Mondays in this peak period are anticipated to account for a combined 41.3 percent of total processing volume.
During the peak period (November 15 through December 31), Mondays see an average of 166.5 percent more orders processed compared to the average from January through September. The highest spike, measured on December 1, is even 302.3 percent above the busiest Monday from the rest of the year.
Jeroen Gehlen, founder of Wuunder, says: “The Monday order surge shows that as a sector, we’re still concentrating too much volume on one day, while spreading orders more evenly throughout the week is proven to be more efficient and sustainable. Although retailers are increasingly moving towards a Black Week, the majority of orders still happen on Friday. I believe we’d benefit from shifting towards a ‘Black,’ or even better, ‘Green,’ Wednesday. Having a peak on Wednesday distributes the pressure more evenly for warehouses and carriers. It also supports deferred shipping, for example with GreenChoice, allowing us to shift volumes to quieter days. This eases peak pressure, benefits the environment, and provides much-needed relief for warehouse employees and delivery drivers.”
The data is based on orders at Wuunder and concerns domestic shipments in the Netherlands. The data is not based on returns and only concerns B2C shipments.