It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It’s that time of the year again when merrymakers all around the world embrace the spirit of generosity and engage in festive gift-exchanging. The year-end holiday season is without a doubt the busiest for retail shops, as they attempt to attend to the throngs of crowds patroning their stores during this busy festive period. And more preparations are perhaps needed this year, as Americans are expected to spend an average of $906 on Christmas gifts — 20% more than last Christmas.

There is, however, another industry that’s bustling just as much — if not more: logistics. This, be it ocean freight or air freight.

In 2016, Santa’s logistics took a hit from the supply chain jam resulting from Hanjin Shipping’s collapse in late August. But this year, even as shipping carriers’ schedule reliability crawls back to normal, we should be seeing (hopefully) a relatively smooth jolly logistics season.

As the global economy improves, US disposable income and consumer confidence levels continue to stabilize. Overall, US holiday retail sales is estimated to increase 3.5% to $680.4 billion. According to consulting firm Deloitte, retail holiday sales are expected to reach as much as $1.04 trillion between the months of November 2017 and January 2018.

Christmas fun facts

If you haven’t already started shopping for Christmas gifts, it’s might be a good idea to get those engines running so you get a headway. USPS is expecting to handle over three billion pieces of First Class Mail in the third week of December. Make sure to post those gifts early, to avoid getting caught in the massive congestion.

Here’s an infographic to illustrate this year’s Christmas fun facts!