The Australian retail market stands at USD 451 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 604 billion by 2030. Despite this growth, a number of big-name retailers such as JeansWest and Rivers have entered administration in 2025.
The challenge extends far beyond retail. Between 2023 and 2024, more than 11,000 Australian companies entered administration or had a controller appointed, a 39% increase year-on-year. The trend shows no sign of slowing, with more than 8,500 companies already meeting the same fate in the first seven months of 2025.
For retailers, this makes strong peak season performance more critical than ever. Peak periods condense a significant share of annual revenue into a matter of weeks, amplifying the pressure both operationally and financially. With Black Friday and Christmas fast approaching, it’s worth examining the key challenges retailers face – and how Australia’s best-run brands prepare for success.
Planning makes perfect
Top retailers attribute their success to disciplined, cross-functional collaboration. In a recent roundtable hosted by global intelligent supply chain execution leader Infios, Darren O’Connor, Director of Solution Delivery, explained that planning is absolutely everything.
“You have to establish a cross-functional team with merchandise planners, transport logistics, supply chain operations, technology teams, and retail operations. You need subject matter experts working well together.”
The planning timeline is extensive. Most organisations start 12 months out, conducting post-implementation reviews and forming collaborative teams spanning operations, stores, e-commerce, merchandise, and sales.
Read also: The keys to project delivery in supply chain projects
Learning from mistakes
Automation and AI-powered systems are transforming retail operations, but technology alone doesn’t guarantee success. Without well-integrated workflows and change management, even the best systems can fail.
The liquidation of Mosaic Brands in July 2025 underscores this reality. The company’s transition to a fully integrated logistics and distribution system was marred by implementation issues, resulting in warehouse management failures, order fulfilment breakdowns, and carrier integration problems.
These missteps delayed critical inventory deliveries ahead of Mother’s Day, with almost 25% of online orders affected. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) found Mosaic’s warehousing and logistics systems “deficient and defective,” making it impossible to meet promised delivery times.
The lesson is clear: technology must enhance – not disrupt – operational continuity during critical sales windows.
Managing complexity at scale
Today’s digital-first consumer expects fast, flexible, and frictionless shopping experiences across every channel. That requires infrastructure capable of handling volume and complexity without creating operational bottlenecks.
Retail success during peak periods increasingly depends on how intelligently systems can anticipate and respond to demand. While predictive analytics helps retailers prepare, the most advanced organisations are moving toward autonomous operations.
When demand unexpectedly spikes, autonomous systems automatically reroute inventory, adjust supplier purchasing, modify delivery promises and rebalance warehouse capacity – all without human intervention. This agility helps retailers maintain service levels and profitability even in volatile conditions.
Defining your peak period
For some retailers, peak periods align with major holidays like Christmas and Easter. For others, they’re tied to Back-to-School, end-of-financial-year sales, or other industry-specific surges. In 2025, pre-Christmas sales are forecast to exceed AUD 70 billion, while the four-day Black Friday–Cyber Monday period alone is projected to generate AUD 6 billion.
Understanding your unique peak cycles starts with analysing historical data and consumer behaviour to uncover patterns, forecast demand trends, and align infrastructure accordingly. This requires supply chain systems that can scale dynamically – ramping up capacity when needed without incurring costly overheads during slower periods.
Darren O’Connor sees this complexity across all retail customers.
“Christmas itself isn’t one thing. It’s a series of meaningful projects that across the organisation. You often do very different things at the start of Christmas to what you’re doing in the middle or towards the end.”
Building flexibility into the supply chain
Rigid networks and single-source suppliers create fragility during peaks. True resilience comes from flexibility – systems that can rapidly reroute orders, reallocate inventory, and adjust delivery schedules automatically.
O’Connor notes that operational flexibility is what separates high-performing retailers from those that falter under pressure.
“Not being dependent on a single way of picking – modular technology can adapt and flex with ease so that there are different ways of doing things at different times of the year.”
Modern warehouse management systems now automatically prioritise express orders during peak periods, move inventory fluidly between stores and online fulfilment centres, and scale delivery networks in real-time based on consumer demand.
Building for peak-readiness
For retailers heading into peak season, recent insolvencies offer a clear warning: planning, flexibility and agility are non-negotiable. Even the best systems fail if processes can’t scale or adapt.
Peak season challenges are intensifying, but resilience starts with a realistic assessment of current capabilities – warehouse capacity, fulfilment speed, workforce flexibility, and technology integration.
The most successful retailers don’t just prepare for peaks; they deploy modular systems that evolve alongside their business, turning seasonal agility into year-round competitive advantage.
The goal isn’t merely to survive peak season – it’s to build sustainable operational strength that drives growth long after the sales end.
Cejay is a Content Producer for Supply Chain Channel, Australia's learning ecosystem created to fill the need for information, networking, case studies and empowerment for everyone in the supply chain sector.
