Holiday Shipping Times

Tony here, I’m the owner at the Map Shop.

I hope this note finds you enjoying your fall, or what we call in the e-commerce business, the calm before the storm. 

Last holiday season was a tough one. We shipped holiday orders on time but because of shipping delays, some of those orders arrived later than expected. USPS, FedEx, UPS, and DHL experienced longer than normal delivery times. This was frustrating. 

I know how it feels when you’re excited to receive a gift you’ve chosen for someone and it doesn’t arrive on time, which made it a stressful time for me. Due to staffing and vehicle shortages last year, 20% of packages didn’t have a truck or a driver to pick them up. I don’t believe these issues have been resolved and I expect even more people will place online orders this year. I anticipate unprecedented shipping delays. 

If you are ordering gifts online this year, I strongly urge you to order in early November. I expect that once we get into December, shipping companies may not be able to deliver by Christmas. I hope I’m wrong.

How are we preparing

I don’t want to disappoint you so we’re doing everything in our power to make sure you get your orders quickly:

★ We have hired additional staff 

★ We have preordered production materials in higher volumes than ever before

★ We’re prepping now to speed up our production times

★ We’re going to run our biggest sale of the year in early November instead of on Black Friday

Our Recomendations

What can you do to ease your stress this holiday? It’s simple – order early. I know lives are busy and it’s strange to start holiday gift planning right after Halloween but that’s what it’s going to take this year. The media isn’t talking about this much yet and by the time they do, it’s going to be too late.  

BOTTOM LINE – if you order holiday gifts by early November, you’re in good shape. If you wait until December, there will be extreme shipping delays. 

As always, we’re standing by to help you. Simply reply to this email and we’re happy to help. Thank you for being our customer and supporting our small business.

We hope you have a relaxing holiday season!

Tony