Next week is the start of Christmas week with the big day falling on Saturday so ecommerce is likely to remain busy right up to Christmas this year, begging the question when will you close for Christmas in 2022? However last posting dates are fast approaching and the Post Office has already predicted that Monday will be the busiest postal date this year.
“Post Office are anticipating Monday 20 December to be the day when its branches are busiest as festive fervent shoppers hurry to ship last minute gifts and presents.
In part, this is because there are a full five working days before Christmas this year, meaning customers may be tempted to wait until the last moment to tackle their Christmas ‘to do’ list.
In 2019, the two weeks ahead of Christmas saw post offices more than double their trading activity and Post Office are warning customers of a similar pattern this year.
Post Office is encouraging customers to avoid the in-branch seasonal rush and ensure gifts are delivered promptly by sharing top tips for posting and with good reason.”
– Post Office
While many carriers will collect right up until the 23rd for delivery on the 24th on a next day service, realistically that really is leaving shopping until the last minute and any service without a next day delivery promise won’t be delivering until the 29th at the earliest.
But will you close for Christmas? Traditionally online retailers breathe a sigh of relief, hopefully having banked the cash to put them into profits, and take Christmas off like the rest of the country. But increasingly, Christmas Day itself is one of the busiest online shopping days of the year as consumers jump onto their new devices, and bored after stuffing themselves with turkey, indulge in a little dual screening and make a few purchases while watching the Christmas specials.
Staying open over Christmas is no big deal on the face of it – marketplaces will tick along and gather up your orders and if you use fulfilment services you don’t even have to worry about shipping orders. However if you fulfil your own orders then when you’re back on thee 29th be prepared for a massive shipping day to clear the four day backlog.
It’s been a tough two years for many businesses, so whether you celebrate Christmas or not we hope you get some time off over what will be a long four day weekend. But if you don’t close for Christmas, plan for the 29th to be a really busy shipping day so take a break while you can!
One Response
We are turning off all channels at midday on the 23rd, process the last orders that come through, have a bit of a clean up and call it a day once the pick ups have been done.
I really cant be doing with the order at 6pm on the 23rd and then send a follow up email with please deliver before Christmas or cancel the order brigade!!
Will turn everything back on at 6pm on the 24th
Back to work on the 29th.