2021 Holiday Shipping Deadlines: All Major Carrier Cutoff Dates
Thursday, November 25, 2021Eric Zegarski
Discover The Last Day to Ship Your 2021 Holiday Orders
Black Friday kicks off the 2021 Cyber season with eCommerce sales expected to rise 11.3% to $206.88 billion and should account for 18.9% of total holiday retail sales,
Logicbroker notes, citing
eMarketer research, basically, your online traffic will increase, make sure you’re ready for it.
Curious as to how big this year’s holiday shopping season might be? Check out
these stats from our tech partners,
Shopify.
With this anticipated increase in order volume, naturally the amount of parcels being shipped will increase as well. As always carriers are being proactive and releasing deadlines ahead of the busy holiday shopping season. That way, merchants such as yourself can inform your customers about these deadlines to avoid disappointment come Christmas Day.
Our partners,
ShipStation have completed a complete list for 2021 holiday shipping deadlines. Check out the following list of shipping deadlines below:
Check out the video below as we discuss these deadlines in detail and how to prepare for the busy shipping season to come.
How to Prepare for the Busy Holiday Shipping Season
- Start planning now. Think through and schedule when you’ll send emails, announce new prices for hot-ticket items on social media, and add banners to your website to draw attention. Also, create a calendar to keep organized and on schedule through the hectic holiday season.
- Plan your promo strategy for each of the major shopping days. Email marketing ramps up around mid-November when consumers use your promotional emails to create their own Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping lists. “Warm-up” your clients by announcing upcoming discounts or special offers.
- Choose the right marketing channels. The days of one-size-fits-all marketing messages are long gone. Take advantage of segmentation to reach different types of buyers. Create several campaigns and design templates for each sales channel—that means a different plan for Instagram, Etsy, Pinterest, etc.
- Announce sales and special offers on your non sales social media accounts as well. The more a person interacts with your brand, the more likely they are to purchase.
- Prep your website. Before the season kicks into high gear, ensure your payment and shipping options work the way you want. Your products should display correctly on your site with detailed descriptions accompanied by high-quality images.
How to Turn Shipping Challenges into Conversions
- Show delivery date and time info. ShipperHQ’s 2020 consumer study shows 82% of customers prefer shopping with brands that display actual delivery dates, with 45% willing to pay more for this information.
- Offer custom shipping promos. The best way to offer free shipping without ruining margins is through a threshold, such as free shipping for orders over $75. In fact, 91% of shoppers will spend more to reach free-shipping thresholds, so this promo also drives sales.
- Set up convenient pick-up alternatives. Forty-five percent of consumers would rather pick up online orders than wait for shipping. Offering free in-store or curbside pickup to local shoppers reduces shipping costs and delivery times while prioritizing convenience.
eBridge Can Help Your Streamline Your Shipping Operations
Connecting
ShipStation with your accounting/ERP application makes sense for your business. Eliminating manual data entry will reduce errors, and save you valuable time. Not to mention, keeping track of your shipping data will be easier than ever. eBridge Connections can help you integrate ShipStation with all of the leading
accounting/ERPs including
Microsoft Dynamics,
NetSuite,
Sage,
Epicor,
Intuit QuickBooks,
SAP, and more.