Chinese New Year (CNY) 2024 is approaching on February 09th ( 2/9/2024-2/16/2024), and if you’re sourcing products from Chinese agents for your dropshipping store, it’s crucial to prepare for this annual holiday. Chinese agents, known for offering cost-effective dropshipping collections, shut down during CNY, leading to potential disruptions. Here’s a guide to help you navigate the impact of Chinese New Year on your dropshipping store and implement solutions to overcome challenges.
Understanding Chinese New Year:
Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, is a significant celebration in the Chinese calendar. It’s marked by a week-long holiday during which Chinese businesses and factories close, and people spend time with their families, engaging in festivities.
Common Dropshipping Challenges During Chinese New Year:
Delays in Purchases: Chinese factories and businesses shut down, causing delays in processing orders.
Supplier Absence: Chinese sellers, dispatchers, and customer service agents are unavailable during CNY.
Affected Dropshipping Suppliers:
All Chinese suppliers, including popular ones like AliExpress, Banggood, CJDropshipping, Aplusfulfill will be impacted by the Chinese New Year. If you source products from China, it’s essential to prepare for shipping delays.
Duration of Shipping Delays:
Chinese factory often stop working a week or two ahead of the official start of Chinese New Year. You need Start preparations before 15th ,January to ensure a smoother transition.
Aplusfulfill will confrim product stocks details plan with you before factory stop.
Mitigating Shipping Delays:
confirm Agents if they’ll operate during CNY.
Contact Supplier Agents: Inquire about special lines that might process select orders during CNY.
Aplusfulfill keep working during CNY, if you have prestocks in our warehouse. CNY shipping delay max 5-7 days.
Impact on Different Niches:
Be aware of global shopping holidays overlapping with CNY, such as Valentine’s Day (February 14th) and Family Day in Canada (February 16th). Plan ahead for these holidays to accommodate potential delays.
Preparing Your Dropshipping Store:
Update Announcement Bar: Clearly communicate potential shipping delays due to CNY on your website’s announcement bar.
Product Page Updates: Add informative notes below product descriptions related to Chinese warehouses, informing customers about potential delays.
Email Notifications: Include a notice in order confirmation emails, reminding customers of CNY-related delays.
Update Shipping Policy: Reflect potential delays in your shipping policy to set customer expectations.
Responding to Unaware Customers:
Prepare response templates for customer queries about delays, apologizing for any inconvenience and providing information on the situation.
How to keep scaling during CNY:
Best Option:
1. keep uploading tracking number into shopify store during CNY.
2.Strategic Stocking: Mitigating Chinese New Year Logistics Delays for Dropshippers.
3. prepare Email reply template for shiping delay.
if you pre-stocks in Aplusfulfill warehouse. CNY shipping delay max 5-7 days.
Final Thoughts:
By proactively communicating with customers, updating your store information, choose top agent, and Strategic Stocking , you can navigate the challenges of Chinese New Year effectively. Maintaining clear communication year-round ensures customer satisfaction and contributes to the ongoing success of your dropshipping business. Explore educational resources during downtime to further develop your dropshipping skills.
