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Holiday Shipping Guide
Get Ready for the Shopping Season

It is important to prepare your logistics operations properly well ahead of the shopping season. Take your time to plan a holiday shipping strategy accordingly so you don’t get overwhelmed.

shipkoo holiday shipping guide

Holiday Shipping

Holidays are the busiest time of the year for online sellers and shipping companies. During the holidays people tend to order a lot more than usual. Therefore, it is important that sellers pay attention to the different aspects in this shipping guide so they can be able to live up to the customers’ expectations.

These are the main aspects to pay attention to:

Plan Ahead of Season

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A great start to plan for the holiday season is to look at the performance of the market in last year’s holiday season. This can help you in determining what kind of volumes to expect and which of your products can be expected to sell out faster.

shipkoo holiday shipping guide plan ahead of the season

Provide Shipping Options

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Having flexible shipping options will be helpful to prevent delays and inconveniences for the customers.

shipkoo holiday shipping guide provide shipping options

Identify priority Countries and Shipping Restrictions

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It is important to know where you can expect most orders to come from so that you can plan accordingly. Do research into the shipping restriction of those countries so that you know which items you can and cannot ship.

shipkoo shipping this holiday season identify priority countires

Identify Shipping Solutions

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It is important to pay close attention to the shipping schedules and shipping deadlines so that you can manage the increase in volume during the holiday season.

shipkoo shipping this holiday season identify shipping solutions

Holiday Shipping Offers

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Customers tend to purchase products that have shipping offers such as “free shipping” and discounts. This can be especially important for customers who order in bulk and spend large amounts.

shipkoo shipping this holiday season holiday shipping offers

Review Return Policy

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The increase in shipments during the holiday season holds as well for product returns. It is important to review your return policy to prevent issues in handling the returns.

shipkoo shipping holidays review return policy

Holiday Shipping Deadlines

Shipping services should be set to ensure customers' holiday gift items arrive on time. Shipping carriers usually announce the deadlines of their service. Last 2019, holiday shipping deadlines for USPS, FedEx and UPS were announced earlier before December.

UPS Holiday Shipping Deadlines

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Retail GroundDecember 14.
First Class MailDecember 20.
Priority MailDecember 21.
Priority Mail ExpressDecember 20.
*Christmas Eve but on selected locations only.

FedEx Holiday Shipping Deadlines

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SmartPost ServicesDecember 9.
Ground and Home DeliveryDecember 16.
Express Saver ServicesDecember 19.
2-Day ServicesDecember 20.
Overnight ServicesDecember 23.
*Christmas Eve using SameDay service and for urgent shipments.

UPS Holiday Shipping Deadlines

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Ground ServiceDecember 13.
3-Day Select ServiceDecember 19.
2nd Day Air ServicesDecember 20.
Next Day Air ServicesDecember 23.
*Christmas Eve but not on Christmas Day.

Amazon Holiday Deadlines

Amazon holiday shipping depends on the promotions they offer. Previously, Amazon offered a $25 discount on purchase requirements for non-prime members placed until a week before Christmas.

For Prime members, the deadline for standard shipping is most probably a week before Christmas (December 17 to 18). There is free 2-day shipping of which the cutoff date is 4 days before Christmas (December 21). A one-day shipping deadline which is 2 days before Christmas. This does not include Sunday as they do not deliver during Sundays.

Amazon also extended their services for last-minute gift buyers so they can still shop for holiday items. There is same day delivery on the day before Christmas (December 24th), which is free for Prime members.

shipkoo amazon deadline for holiday shipping