Everyone loves peak season, don’t they?

It’s the point at which carts fill faster, orders surge, warehouses buzz, and delivery networks are pushed to their limit. It’s when a good year can become a great one, or an underwhelming year can be resurrected.

It’s the most lucrative time for retailers, but is it the most profitable?

For many retailers, peak is where margins go to die. But there’s a growth engine still sat in the garage: delivery

The easiest lever to pull - the one that grabs the attention of cost-conscious consumers - is discounts. It’s a tried and tested strategy. But over time, those quick wins teach customers to wait for the next deal (and 60% do wait), compare more aggressively, and value your product less.

When price is the only differentiator, loyalty is hard to earn and easy to lose. Retailers aren’t just selling a product today but a service, and in this week’s Delivered we explore how delivery experience can reduce the reliance on discounts and drive loyalty without eroding margins.

TL;DR

• 7.9% of retailers say their biggest investment will be in promotions while 15.5% say AI and automation, and real-time data analysis. That the gap isn’t bigger suggests the shift from discounting to transformational technology isn’t happening as decisively as it should be.
• 64% of Aussie shoppers say they won't return to a brand after a poor delivery experience. When asked what will most impact conversions and loyalty, retailers were almost unanimous in their answer: delivery.
• Nearly half of Australians say delivery options are the most important factor influencing online purchasing decisions, almost as influential as product price.

The biggest discounts don’t deliver the greatest gains

Retailers are in a race to the bottom.

If you’ve opened your email, scrolled social media or strolled down a high street over the last six weeks, you’ll have almost certainly been bombarded with deals, discounts and offers.

Peak is no longer the mad dash it once was. It starts earlier every year.

In early October, Amazon launched its Prime Big Deal Days. Myer quickly followed suit with its Super Weekend whilst David Jones and Target ran its respective toy sale campaigns.

Then, at the end of the month, Temple & Webster kicked off its peak sales, with other furniture retailers following closely behind.

Last year, Shippit data shows that peak volumes began to surge not during the Black Friday weekend, but 13–20 days before it.

But why?

Almost two in three shoppers actively delay purchases until peak discounts, so retailers are starting them earlier.

Here's the problem: when you train customers to wait for discounts, they stop buying at full price. Heavy discounting erodes perceived value and ultimately hamstrings long-term profitability.

When price becomes the primary reason they choose you, you're not building loyalty, you're renting attention - and their attention wanes the moment a competitor comes in cheaper.

“They’re deferring decisions on enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, order management systems (OMS), and point of sale (POS) systems. They’re not investing in infrastructure, they’re investing in short-term sugar hits and doubling down on discounting as opposed to looking at long-term investments.”

According to our State of Shipping Report, 7.9% of retailers said their biggest investments in 2025 were in promotions and discounting.

That means 7.9% are actively pursuing short-term wins as a priority, with longer-term infrastructure lower on their to-do list.

So if the discount playbook is short-term, what actually drives sustainable growth?

What really brings customers back (and keeps them coming back)

The State of Shipping report also reveals that four in five Australians say the post-purchase experience - covering delivery, tracking, and returns - is either extremely or very important.

What’s more, two-thirds (64%) won't return to a brand after a poor delivery experience. Not ‘might not return’, won't return.

When retailers were asked what would impact checkout conversions and long-term loyalty most in the next year, none said discounts, deals or promotions.

That’s not to say that none of them believe it will be influential, but none thought it would be the biggest. Instead, delivery was central:

• 27.6% said faster delivery options like express and on-demand
• 19% pointed to cost-effective delivery options
• 17.2% identified greater online inventory availability
• 10.3% highlighted increased delivery variety

What should you take from that? Delivery experience isn't a ‘nice-to-have’ anymore, it's influential,

Customer acquisition costs are rising and product price is a shaky foundation on which to build loyalty. So retailers need sustainable strategies to drive retention and encourage repeat purchases.

Delivery is that lever.

The retailers who win aren't the ones offering the deepest discount. They're the ones who deliver certainty, transparency, and convenience. They give customers controlled deliveries within convenient windows, aligned to school pick-ups, or late-night drops when they're actually home.

They offer click-and-collect when delivery windows close. They provide accurate ETAs, proactive tracking, and reliable communication from checkout to doorstep.

These aren't operational details. They're brand differentiators.

Ask Petbarn, which invested in an optimised last mile experience - and in particular offering on-demand delivery. As a result, spend per on-demand customer increased by 3.5x and these customers shoped 35% more frequently.

“We have access to more carriers, more delivery options, and more ways for customers to shop and receive their orders exactly the way they want,” says Antoun Torossian, National Online and Optimisation Manager.

Your post-peak logistics and operations action plan

The days ahead are about execution. But once peak ends, the real work begins.

Retailers who treat delivery as a strategic growth engine, not a cost centre, are already building infrastructure that pays dividends long after peak. They're using delivery data to measure carrier performance, tighten operations, and set customer expectations they can actually keep.

The gap between those pursuing short-term discounting at the expense of long-term delivery excellence is widening. Here's how to land on the right side of it when you begin your post-peak audit:

Audit peak performance

• When 2026 rolls around and peak season is safely behind you, pull carrier scorecards by lane, postcode, and service level.nbsp;
• Identify where you over-promised, where delays clustered, and which carriers held up under pressure.nbsp;
• Measure repeat purchase rates, average order values, and retention rates.

Carefully consider investments and their ROI

• If 7.9% of retailers are prioritising promotions while 20.7% are investing in supply chain optimisation, the gap between those pursuing short-term sugar hits and long-term loyalty is growing.
• Consider how real-time data analytics, supply chain optimisation, and AI and automation could improve your margins and customer experience simultaneously.

Turn delivery into your competitive moat

• Nearly half of Australians rank delivery options as the most important factor in purchase decisions.
• If you're not obsessing over delivery speed, transparency, and optionality, you're leaving market share on the table.
• Map your current delivery experience against customer expectations and close the gaps before your competitors do.

For many retailers, discounting is the easiest lever to pull during peak season.

For those who have identified the role that delivery and discounts - not discounts alone - has on customer loyalty, peak can be the time that carts fill faster, orders surge, warehouses buzz, and profitability soars not stutters.

Discounts are table stakes today, and will help retailers grab attention. But they need strong delivery experience to drive sustained profitability with a loyal customer base.