BFCM Integration Readiness Checklist

A Retailer’s Guide to Managing Integrations During Peak 2025, with examples from GymShark and Triumph

BFCM is nearly here, but is your tech stack truly ready to handle the surge?

Every year, peak season exposes the hidden weak points in a retailer’s tech stack, and it’s often the integrations that crack first. Systems that should work together under pressure, ecommerce, ERP, WMS, payments, finance - suddenly fall out of sync. One failed connection can halt order flow, delay fulfilment, or prevent payments from being captured.

A single missing data sync can trigger a chain reaction of operational chaos.

Sometimes it’s the site, but more often, it’s the behind-the-scenes integrations quietly failing at the worst possible time, and by the time anyone notices, it’s already impacting customers, revenue, and reputation.

This guide includes a comprehensive BFCM Integration Readiness Checklist designed specifically to help you assess your current setup, identify risks before they escalate, and take actionable steps to prevent failure during the busiest shopping period of the year.

1. Are your systems synchronised?

✔️ Inventory synced between WMS/ERP and your storefront

✔️ Order status reflected across channels in real-time

✔️ Returns and refunds processed across systems within minutes

🔴 Red flag: If you’re syncing via CSV, manual exports, or basic plug-ins, you’re already behind.

2. Can you launch or update quickly?

✔️ Can you stand up a new sales channel or fulfilment method in under a week?

✔️ Can you test workflows without deploying dev resources?

✔️ Do you have self-serve visibility over your data flows?

🔴 Red flag: If launching a new channel or system still needs a dev sprint or external agency, you’re not set up to move fast w hen opportunity strikes.

3 . Are fulfilment operations aligned across systems?

✔️ Are your 3PL, WMS, and shipping platforms integrated?

✔️ Can you support omni-channel fulfilment (B OPIS, split ship, same-day)?

✔️ Do you have logic built in for pre-order/backorder handling?

🔴 Red flag: If your warehouse team is using work arounds or manual steps to fulfil BFCM orders, you’re risking SLA breaches and poor CX

4. Can your systems handle peak scale?

✔️ Have you tested volume load across APIs?

✔️ Are workflows built to be retry-safe and error-handled?

✔️ Can you detect and resolve integration issues in real-time?

🔴 Red flag: If you don’t know your system’s API limits or haven’t tested workflows at BFCM scale, you’re flying blind under pressure.

5. Are you compliant and secure?

✔️ Is your integration layer ISO 27001 and SOC2 certified?

✔️ Are logs and audit trails easily accessible for ops and tech?

✔️ Is sensitive customer or order data flowing securely?

🔴 Red flag: If you’re relying on vendor plug-ins or homegrown connectors with unclear security protocols, your data could be exposed.

6. Can you monitor, measure, and act?

✔️ Do you have visibility on API performance and latency?

✔️ Are integration errors flagged and resolved automatically?

✔️ Are you reporting on fulfilment S L As and order accuracy?

🔴 Red flag: If you only know something’s broken when customers complain, you lack the visibility to scale with confidence.

BFCM is the ultimate test of your tech stack, and as we’ve seen, the smallest crack in your integration infrastructure can cause colossal damage. The stakes have never been higher, and there’s no room for second chances when millions of orders are flowing in simultaneously.

That’s why getting your integration readiness right isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s mission critical. This checklist is your roadmap to uncovering vulnerabilities before peak hits, so you can take proactive steps to secure every connection and safeguard your customer experience.

But assessing readiness is only half the battle. To truly thrive during peak, you need integration infrastructure designed for scale, resilience, and real-time control. That way, when the next BFCM arrives, your business isn’t just ready, it’s positioned to win.

If you’re serious about avoiding costly outages, frustrated customers, and lost revenue this BFCM, it’s time to move beyond fragile custom integrations and manual workarounds.

See how Patchworks can transform your peak trading.