eStar client services manager Liam Collins discusses how Australian and New Zealand retailers can fly smoothly through peak 2025.
Load-test your systems, brief your crew, the runway is clear, and your 2025 peak season is ready for take-off, but can you trust your AI co-pilot?
Each year, Black Friday and Cyber Monday push retailers across Australia and New Zealand into their busiest and most complex flight paths. The reward for a well-executed journey is record sales and loyal customers — but the risk of turbulence is always near. What’s changing rapidly is the technology guiding the cockpit. Artificial Intelligence, and especially new generative tools, are stepping in as a reliable “co-pilot”, giving crews sharper instruments and faster reactions than ever before.
Recent industry forecasts suggest AI could deliver several billion dollars in additional value to the retail sector before the decade closes. Even if estimates vary, the direction is clear: AI is not a distant horizon but an immediate tailwind.
Flight Log: A Market in Full Climb
The past year demonstrated just how high retailers can soar. Online retail spend reached fresh records in both Australia and New Zealand, while parcel networks were tested under record volumes. At the same time, customer expectations have only risen — rapid same day delivery, personalised offers, and smooth digital journeys are now assumed rather than applauded.
That makes preparation for 2025 more than a routine pre-flight check; it requires new levels of precision. Traditional approaches alone are unlikely to keep pace. AI offers a way to anticipate where demand will spike, adapt to shifting winds, and maintain a steady flight path.
Pre-Flight Briefing: Building Resilient Systems
Core infrastructure still matters. Websites must be stress-tested, payment and inventory integrations need to be stable, and fulfilment pipelines should be locked down before traffic peaks. What’s new is how AI strengthens this process.
- Forecasting models can highlight which categories will surge, helping retailers stock the right “fuel” before the take-off rush.
- Content-generation tools allow campaigns and product listings to be produced at speed, without overworking the crew.
- Real-time optimisation systems make it possible to pivot during the flight itself — whether that means adjusting a promotion, balancing stock between locations, or re-routing fulfilment.
Crucially, these tools don’t replace human judgment. They reduce the noise, giving retail leaders space to focus on the strategic calls that still require experience, instinct, and creativity.
The pre-peak period is a critical time for retailers to put the right technology in place to ensure smooth fulfilment and seamless customer experiences. Waiting until peak to address issues is risky: last-minute system changes or untested features can quickly disrupt operations, erode customer trust and sales momentum.
Keeping the Cabin Calm: Service and Delivery
If the website is the engine, service and fulfilment are the cabin crew. During peak, questions pour in and orders multiply. AI lends extra hands here too.
Automated assistants can take on simple customer queries, ensuring shoppers get instant responses. Fraud-detection engines quietly patrol in the background, cutting off bad passengers before they cause disruption. Fulfilment optimisation software decides the most efficient route for each order, reducing delivery times and costs.
Together, these systems help crew focus on what matters most: solving complex issues and maintaining the human warmth that builds brand loyalty.
Navigating Turbulence: Planning for the Unexpected
Even the best-prepared flights face weather they didn’t expect. Supplier bumps, courier delays, or sudden surges in demand can shake confidence. AI can serve as both radar and simulator, running scenarios that reveal where vulnerabilities might sit.
By rehearsing responses ahead of time and having data-driven playbooks ready, teams can respond quickly instead of improvising under pressure. It’s not about eliminating turbulence but ensuring the aircraft stays steady through it.
Final Approach: Debriefing with Insight
Landing smoothly is only half the job. The post-peak review is where lessons are learned, and future flights become more efficient. AI accelerates this debrief, processing enormous amounts of transactional and behavioural data in a fraction of the time it once took.
Patterns that might otherwise be invisible such as subtle shifts in customer preferences, or bottlenecks in a fulfilment chain can be surfaced quickly. From there, human teams bring interpretation: why did certain campaigns resonate, and how should next year’s journey be charted differently?
This partnership between machine insight and human creativity is where real competitive advantage lies.
Ready for Take-Off
Peak season will always test a retailer’s readiness. Infrastructure must be sound, crews must be well-briefed, and contingency plans must be watertight. But now, with AI in the cockpit, retailers can approach 2025 with greater confidence.
AI brings the speed, scale, and foresight to keep operations steady, while people supply the imagination, empathy, and strategic direction that make commerce meaningful. It’s a partnership, not a replacement.
With the crew prepared and a capable co-pilot on board, the skies ahead look smoother than ever. Engines on, systems green, runway clear: let’s fly.