The Logistics Behind a Perfect Valentine’s Day

As Valentine’s Day approaches, it’s time for logistics providers to stay on their toes. Let’s look at the various hurdles supply chains may encounter while gearing up for this year’s season of love.

February 14, Valentine’s Day — the most romantic day on the calendar is just around the corner. Although the day looks as charming as ever, it certainly isn’t a cheap endeavor. According to a recent surveyOpens a new window by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics, about 52% of U.S. adults are celebrating Valentine’s Day this year. The spending may go up to $21.8 billion, with an average spend of $164.76 per person (down by $32 from a record $196.31 in 2020, just at the onset of the pandemic). 

After the Christmas season, Valentine’s Day marks the second busiest time of the year for shippers. Similar to Christmas holiday shipping, the logistics of Valentine’s Day focuses on the significance of the right supply chain network that is needed to please every customer. Without appropriate supply chains in place, the holiday may not be a pleasant one for most customers. The logistics of Valentine’s Day is dominated by the expertise of suppliers and shipping companies to deliver orders on time.

Valentine’s Day Plans for 2021
Source: NRF’s Annual 2021 Valentine’s Day Spending SurveyOpens a new window

The Cold Chain of Flowers

Valentine’s Day gifts start with the mandatory yet evergreen freshly-cut flowers. These gifts tend to have a short shelf life and therefore rely on the cold chain (temperature-controlled supply chain) for success. As per a 2019 reportOpens a new window , about 80% of the flowers are imported into the U.S., with most coming in from Colombia. Colombia has emerged as the biggest exporter of flowers since the 1990s, as it ships about $1.4 billion-plus cut flowers each year.

The procedure followed for floral management is somewhat easy. According to Hartford Florist SupplyOpens a new window , once the flowers are harvested, the blooming buds are cooled to 33 to 35 F. The temperature is appropriately maintained during their entire journey through the cold chain, starting with the truck ride from the grower to the local airport. From there, the flowers are loaded onto both commercial and freight aircraft to be transported to the U.S.

Once the flowers land on the U.S. shores, at each entry point, the U.S. customs and border protection officers inspect every shipment for pests, disease, and contraband. On clearing the customs, the flowers are brought back to near-freezing temperatures and are eventually sent to the warehouse. They are then sent to all the distribution centers before finally arriving at the florists’. 

Bearing this process in mind, an important question immediately pops-up: what if there is a delay in clearing customs? Or a disruption that impacts a temperature-sensitive facility? Thus, without the proper logistics processes and plans for eventualities, a simple delay or custom problem can telescope into a suite of problems, thereby spoiling the most awaited Valentine’s Day bouquets.

The Critical Supply Chain of Chocolates

Most of these bouquets are accompanied by exquisite German chocolates. According to the United Nations Comtrade databaseOpens a new window on international trade, U.S. imports its chocolates from Germany’s sugar confectionery (including white chocolate), which accounted for $149.13 million in 2019. However, getting these sweets on the shores of the U.S. is a challenging task. 

Careful transportation of these chocolates is an area of concern. Once the packaging is done, each load must be insulated or protected from moisture, humidity, and temperature changes. The German Transport Information Service recommends all chocolates to be transported in refrigerated containers to maintain the cold chain from start to finish. Thus, complete visibility of the product and its transit across the supply chain are required to accomplish this task successfully.

Hence, the ability to track individual components and maintaining the required visibility in supply chains is crucial for delivering the sweet treats on Valentine’s Day.

Supply Chain on All Fronts 

All these gifts are further accompanied by custom greeting cards. According to HallmarkOpens a new window , approximately 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged industry-wide – thereby making Valentine’s Day the second-largest holiday for exchanging greetings cards after Christmas. 

Like any other post or parcel, sending chocolates and gifts needs a lot of planning. Each shipment carrier has its own shipping deadlines for delivering the parcel to a concerned address. In the case of the U.S., one can still deliver gifts four days in advance with ‘priority shipping’ within the Continental United States. Some carriers like UPS have an offer up their sleeve even for extreme procrastinators, where they guarantee delivery even if you are shipping just a  day in advance, but with an extra charge of a few hundred dollars. 

Considering these logistics factors, one can consider their shipment characteristics such as size, weight, destination, and delivery timing to avoid additional costs, while still delighting a loved one.

The Supply Chain Juggernaut

Gifts face unique challenges at every step in their supply chains. Addressing all these issues in one go requires complete visibility in the supply chain framework. Missing out on a single step in the supply chain can lead to exposing chocolates to moisture or keeping flowers outside a climate-controlled environment. In such cases, either the products get damaged or remain unsellable to the end customers.

Valentine’s Day gifts are time-sensitive — they aren’t as appreciated on February 13th and aren’t valued as much on February 15th. Thus, without proper planning and coordination, the supply chains could either deliver the gifts too early or too late, nullifying the excitement of Valentine’s Day in either case. 

Smart Logistics Technologies

That being said, modern technology has come in handy in mitigating such situations. Companies today are using robust logistics monitoring, modeling, and execution tools for the smooth handling of their supply chains. 

Such tools enable proper planning on deciding the most effective port of entry, warehouse and distribution center locations, and network reach. Most enterprise logistics companies often analyze all these factors to determine the best route forward. Besides, supply chain data combined with analysis supports real-time decision making in situations where there is a disruption in the chain, or a blockade is foreseen. 

Some enterprise logistics providers deliver insightful observations with smart logistics technologies. These include automation in robotic warehouse systems, RFID tags for better tracking, IoT devices for remote monitoring of variables like temperature, humidity, or GPS location of a package, artificial intelligence to predict demand, modify orders, and re-route in-transit goods to warehouses, and many more. 

These technologies allow logistics providers to keep track of their supply chains and investigate better if there is a breakdown in the supply chain. It is therefore important for providers to have the tools and resources to trace and track every supply chain activity in all the scenarios, just in case a contingency or an official record is required for handling the worst.

In conclusion

As Valentine’s Day marks one of the biggest floral holidays, love birds across the globe can thank the cold chain for allowing them to relish this romantic day without any glitches every February. It introduces several challenges for the logistics providers, such as maintaining transparency and visibility throughout their cold chain. In situations where a logistics company cannot handle these challenges, it can partner with firms that have the expertise to handle such challenges. Such collaborations can bring an objective viewpoint to tie everything together and determine solutions if one piece breaks in the overall supply chain.

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