Peak season is no longer a neatly defined sprint from Black Friday to Christmas. For UK enterprise retailers, it has evolved into a rolling marathon of demand spikes, promotional surges, and constantly shifting customer expectations. The retailers that win are the ones that treat stability, adaptability, and resilience as competitive differentiators – not operational niceties.
As peak 2025 approaches, logistics leaders are under renewed pressure to protect customer promises, safeguard revenue, and keep warehouses running at full strength despite growing unpredictability across the carrier ecosystem. From what I see across the Customer Success and Support teams I lead, retailers are more aware than ever that even a small disruption can have a ripple effect on the entire operation.
The New Reality: Peak Has Changed - And So Must Your Logistics Strategy
As eCommerce complexity increases, carrier disruptions have become an expected – but inherently unpredictable – part of the landscape. Whether it is capacity constraints, sudden service outages, or last-minute collection failures, every retailer has faced moments when their delivery network could not perform as planned. In our regular conversations with retailers, we see a clear trend: volatility is now something most operations plan for rather than react to.
This is why resilience is no longer optional; it is non-negotiable. And in a market where customers defect quickly after a single poor delivery experience, the stakes have never been higher.
At Scurri, we know logistics stability is foundational. Our delivery management platform uptime in 2025 sits at 99.999%, supported by continued investment to ensure consistent performance – especially during peak, when volumes are at their highest. Having oversight of both our operational performance and the teams that support our customers, I know first-hand how vital that stability is when pressure is at its peak.
Why Control and Agility Matter More Than Ever
The most successful retailers are shifting from carrier dependency to carrier agility – designing delivery networks that allow them to pivot instantly when conditions change. From conversations my team and I have with retailers throughout the year, it is clear that the ability to switch carriers quickly is no longer viewed as a luxury, but a core operational requirement.
There are countless scenarios where rapid carrier switching becomes essential:
• Promotional spikes suddenly accelerate volume.
Retailers may shift orders from next-day to standard services to protect margins while meeting expectations.
• Carrier capacity caps hit unexpectedly.
When one carrier maxes out, remaining parcels must be rerouted without delay.
• Unexpected collection failures.
A single missed collection can jeopardise thousands of orders. Retailers with flexible routing maintain continuity.
• Temporary carrier service outages.
When a carrier’s label API goes down with no clear ETA, operational downtime is not an option.
Even if you do not plan to switch carriers, having the option to do so significantly mitigates risk.
Our customer TP Toys takes this approach by integrating with a wide network of carriers throughout the year – a strategy that becomes indispensable during peak. As Andrew Bevan, Compliance and WMS Manager at TP Toys, told us, “Different carriers offer different benefits. Having access to a wide range of carriers significantly reduces risk, particularly during peak periods. Scurri Connect has been instrumental in our carrier diversification strategy.”
The Role of Intelligent Automation in Delivery Resilience
If peak seasons have taught the industry anything, it is that automation now sits at the heart of modern logistics operations. It is especially powerful when it comes to managing carrier risk. Internally, I see every day how automation enables our customers to stay ahead of disruption without relying on technical intervention.
Tools like the Scurri Rules Engine give retailers the ability to activate, deactivate, and reroute shipments across carriers and services in real time. This means operational teams can:
• Automatically switch carriers when issues arise
• Change delivery services on the fly
• Implement instant contingency plans during peak
• Balance cost, capacity, and speed with precision
• Protect customer promises regardless of disruption
Scurri customer Bulk, which processes over 3 million orders annually, highlighted how essential this autonomy becomes during high-pressure periods like peak:
“Thanks to Scurri’s Rules Engine, we can make changes quickly. Doing this directly with carriers would require dev time and technical expertise. This intuitive system allows the logistics team to be autonomous with the change agenda.”
TP Toys echoes this sentiment, noting that the platform’s intuitive rules engine enables them to optimise carrier selection and shipping rules effortlessly, while reducing support tickets by 86%. As someone who oversees our Support function, I know how significant that reduction is for freeing up teams to focus on higher value work.
Peak Success Belongs to Retailers Who Plan for Disruption - Not Just Volume
As peak 2025 draws nearer, the retailers who invest early in resilience will be the ones best positioned to deliver consistent, reliable, customer-winning experiences – even when the unexpected hits.
Your customers will not see the countless protective measures happening behind the scenes in your warehouse. They will only see that their delivery arrived when you said it would.
And in a world where loyalty is earned at the doorstep, that reliability is what sets a great retailer apart.
If you would like to strengthen your logistics resilience strategy or explore how rules and automation can support your peak readiness, the Scurri team are always here to help – simply get in touch for a consultation.