Are you ready for Christmas 2025?!
It has never been more important to get your planning right for peak season.
Christmas shopping begins in earnest with Black Friday (28 November in 2025) and it is crucial that logistics, warehouse and retail businesses make sure they have enough stock, enough delivery capability for online orders and enough space for High Street shoppers.
Mezzanines can help, and now is the time to start preparations if you want the 2025 festive season to go like a dream.
A record-breaking peak season
In 2024, Black Friday and Cyber Monday broke new records. Global payment provider Barclaycard reported a 9.5% increase in UK retail transactions compared to 2023 as Black Friday coincided with payday for many consumers. Online cosmetics purchases peaked at 7 pm, with a staggering 563% growth compared to the last Friday in October, according to Checkout.com data. The spending spike at 1 pm Black Friday for electrical stores showed a 478% increase.
In fact, more than half of consumers rely on sales events like Black Friday to complete at least a quarter of their Christmas shopping. With Black Friday falling late again this year (compared to 24 November in 2023) there will be another condensed time frame for Christmas sales. In the words of Forbes.com, this highlights “the importance of having operations that can withstand these extreme peaks.”
How mezzanines solve the challenge
Installing a mezzanine gives you extra space for storage, staff and display so you can be in optimum position for peak demand. Mezzanines can be retrofitted with minimal disruption to your ongoing operations, and for expanding companies they save the costs and inconvenience of finding new premises
Peak-season is critical to annual turnover
Shoppers spent more in December 2024 than 2023 – up 3.2%, according to the British Retail Consortium. But overall, retailers experienced a weak 12 months with sales in 2024 only 0.7% higher than the year before.
How mezzanines solve the challenge
With mezzanines installed in their warehouses, smart businesses know they can maximise their vertical space to keep enough stock ready for peak season. Peak season means more storage, more orders and more work, all while keeping the pace of throughput the same. Robotics is increasingly the answer, and Hi-level Mezzanines offer Hi-Tile, a unique robot-ready flooring, robust enough for the most demanding automation.
Christmas sales were up … and could be even better with a mezzanine
Tesco UK sales were up 4.1% for the Christmas period while Aldi reported its “best Christmas ever”. It made sales of £1.6bn in the four weeks to Christmas Eve (partly driven by increased floorspace), while M&S heralded the fact that “sales records were broken across the business, with Food recording its biggest day and Clothing, Home & Beauty online its biggest week.”
How mezzanines solve the challenge
M&S also noted, however, “a few growing pains as we delivered our biggest ever volumes” and promised a focus for 2025 on turning stock faster and optimising store range and space. This is exactly the scenario where mezzanines can prove a game-changer, just as they could for companies planning, like M&S, to “modernise the supply chain and utilise digital technology to maximise our online potential.”
Peak parcels
Almost 1.3 billion parcels were delivered to UK customers in the run-up to Christmas, according to estimates. At the busiest time of the year for delivery companies, the warehousing, logistics and ecommerce sectors need to be confident they have the capacity to cope.
How mezzanines solve the challenge
As above, this is where mezzanines built to withstand the pressures of robotics excel. Warehouse automation is back on an upward trend, according to industry experts – and 2025 is forecast to be a boom year.
Throughput and capacity
If your warehouse management system is highlighting issues with throughput and capacity, then a mezzanine could be an answer. A 3PL industry study has noted how nearly six in ten 3PL warehouses are running at more than 90% capacity: 39% are 90% to 100% full, while 20% are operating above 100% capacity
How mezzanines solve the challenge
Installing a mezzanine means you can maximise use of your existing space and increase productivity without the expense and inconvenience of moving to new premises. A mezzanine is a brilliant way to futureproof your business by creating more space you can expand into as and when you want to.
Online versus High Street
Online shopping continues to dominate, with 70% of consumers shopping online and 68% visiting physical stores in the lead-up to Christmas, according to Bauer Media’s Insights report. Many shoppers rely on both channels, especially for last-minute purchases.
How mezzanines solve the challenge
A key driver for in-store shopping is the convenience of securing gifts without worrying about delivery delays – a trend that is likely to remain strong. With a mezzanine to increase storage headroom, you can make sure you have enough stock ready to ship.
Lower footfall on the High Street
The number of shoppers going to bricks-and-mortar shops fell 2.2% in 2024, the British Retail Consortium found, while Boxing Day sales were 6.2% down on 2023 and train strikes and snow saw New Year sales fall by 4% on the High Street and in retail parks. Analysts told BBC News that bricks-and-mortar stores are becoming less profitable as they are expensive to keep open due to rising energy costs and, for some, Bank Holiday overtime pay for staff.
How mezzanines solve the challenge
There is growing pressure on High Street retailers to provide their best possible service to customers in the face of these pressures. Mezzanines offer two advantages: extra capacity in retailers’ warehouses so they can speedily replenish High Street shelves, and extra space for in-store shoppers to browse.
If you want to be ready for peak season 2025, contact us today.
