How Technology Supports Santa’s Success

Christmas is the peak time of year for many business operations … including Santa’s workshop.

In many ways, the decisions faced by Santa and his elves are like those of organisations:

• Customer relationship management (naughty and nice lists)
• Delivery fulfilment (products and services delivered on time without exception)
• Data security (ensuring present information remains a surprise and personally identifiable information is protected)

How can technology help ease Santa’s stress at this magical time of year?

• Understanding demand

Of course, the ‘elves on the shelves’ across the world offer Santa lots of first-hand feedback about seasonal gifting trends each year. (They also know who’s been naughty or nice … and keep Santa updated.)

• Customer communication

Most of Santa’s customers use social media … what better way of asking for your ideal present? No more worries about slow, unreliable letters reaching the North Pole. Simply log in and DM Santa!

• Delivery as promised

Every year, Santa promises to deliver presents to children across the world from Christmas Eve night through to early morning on Christmas Day. An estimated 1.5 billion people celebrate Christmas worldwide. That’s a lot of deliveries – many more than Amazon, even!

Last year, 29% of online Christmas shopping was bought through Amazon, which faces the same pressure as Santa … same or next day delivery. During 2023, the online marketplace giant doubled its same-day delivery centres and delivered record-breaking orders in the UK worth £26.5 billion with speed and confidence – the same style as Santa!

(Source: Statista 2024)

• Finding the way

Rudolf’s red nose is remarkable, yet even Santa needs a backup navigation system. With unpredictable weather and traffic at Christmas, Santa can use technology to optimise delivery routes and find handy detours if needed.

• Team collaboration

Teamwork is crucial at Christmas. Whether it’s elves in the workshop or the reindeer pulling the sleigh … Santa’s teams need to communicate and support each other. From toy adjustments to delivery pit stops, Santa needs to know where everyone is and feel confident that productivity is on track for Christmas deadlines. Cloud-based apps are perfect for knowing exact locations, tracking project progress and communicating with team members. They offer Santa everything he needs to streamline Christmas jobs, saving valuable time.

Whether you’re switching off for the festive season or, like Santa, managing your busiest time of year, the EMH team wishes you a happy Christmas.