eFulfillment Service shares shipping carrier deadlines for the last date parcels can be shipped, in order to arrive by Christmas, December 25, 2020. The ecommerce fulfillment team reminds consumers and internet retailers that these deadlines aren’t “order-by” dates and these dates don’t allow time for order processing at fulfillment centers, especially during the peak shopping days from Thanksgiving through the Christmas holiday.
“Shoppers should shop earlier this year than any previous year,” recommends Linda Sorna, eFulfillment Service Client Care Manager. “We expect high-volumes and complications from COVID-19 will affect shipping services this year. We’re encouraging our clients to communicate with their customers to expect longer shipping times and to order as early as possible.”
Please remember that you should add at least two (2) additional business days to these dates for the required order processing time.
USPS - DOMESTIC | Shipping Date | |
---|---|---|
First Class Mail | December 15th, 2020 | |
Priority Mail | December 17th, 2020 | |
Priority Mail Express | December 21st, 2020 | |
APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIPs 090-92 | via Priority Mail | December 9th, 2020 |
APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIP 093 | via Priority Mail | December 9th, 2020 |
APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIPs 094-098 | via Priority Mail | December 9th, 2020 |
APO/FPO/DPO AA ZIP 340 | via Priority Mail | December 9th, 2020 |
APO/FPO/DPO AP ZIPs 962-966 | via Priority Mail | December 9th, 2020 |
DHL – DOMESTIC | Shipping Date |
---|---|
DHL EXPEDITED MAX | December 14th |
DHL PARCEL ZONAL EXPEDITED | December 10th |
DHL PARCEL PLUS EXPEDITED | December 10th |
DHL PARCEL ZONAL GROUND | December 7th |
FEDEX – DOMESTIC | Shipping Date |
---|---|
FedEx Ground | December 15th |
FedEx Home Delivery | December 15th |
FedEx Express Saver | December 21st |
FedEx 2-Day | December 22nd |
FedEx SmartPost | December 4th |
FedEx Standard Overnight | December 23rd |
USPS – INTERNATIONAL | Shipping Date Priority Mail Int'l | Shipping Date First Class Int'l | Shipping Date Priority Mail Express Int'l |
||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Priority Mail Int'l | First Class Int'l | Priority Mail Express Int'l | |||
Africa | November 30th | November 23rd | December 7th | ||
Asia/Pacific Rom | December 7th | November 23rd | December 14th | ||
Australia/New Zealand | December 7th | November 23rd | December 14th | ||
Canada | December 7th | November 23rd | December 14th | ||
Caribbean | December 7th | November 23rd | December 14th | ||
Central/South America | November 30th | November 23rd | December 7th | ||
Mexico | December 7th | November 23rd | December 14th | ||
Europe | December 7th | November 23rd | December 14th | ||
Middle East | December 7th | November 23rd | December 14th |
DHL - INTERNATIONAL | Shipping Date DHL Parcel International Standard | Shipping Date DHL Packet International |
|
---|---|---|---|
African Countries | November 19th | November 16th | |
Australia | November 25th | November 25th | |
Brazil | November 2nd | November 6th | |
Canada | December 1st | December 1st | |
China | November 27th | December 3rd | |
Eastern Europe | November 30th | November 30th | |
France | December 7th | December 3rd | |
Germany | December 9th | December 9th | |
Hong Kong | November 27th | December 2nd | |
India | November 27th | November 20th | |
Israel | November 25th | December 1st | |
Japan | December 8th | December 7th | |
Mexico | November 12th | November 19th | |
New Zealand | November 30th | November 19th | |
Rest of Asia | November 30th | November 27th | |
Rest of Latin America | November 13th | November 18th | |
Russia | November 19th | November 20th | |
Thailand | November 27th | November 30th | |
United Kingdom | December 10th | December 10th | |
Western Europe | December 4th | December 3rd |
FEDEX – INTERNATIONAL | Shipping Date FedEx International Economy | Shipping Date FedEx International Priority |
|
---|---|---|---|
Puerto Rico | December 10th | December 16th | |
Canada | December 10th | December 16th | |
Mexico | December 10th | December 16th | |
Other Destinations | December 7th | December 14th |
The ecommerce holiday season unofficially kicked off in mid-October with Amazon’s Prime Day sales promotion, and it did so with a bigger focus on its marketplace sellers, or small businesses, versus its own products. Digital Commerce 360’s early analysis shows that these smaller businesses accounted for a larger percentage of Amazon’s overall sales as compared to previous Prime Day performance. Popular categories included online orders for home goods (especially bedding products), electronics, nutrition and crafts. Because of the higher performance of these smaller businesses during the Prime Day promotion, eFulfillment Service ecommerce fulfillment experts are expecting increases in FBA Prep services, as those online businesses replenish inventories sold on Prime Day. eFulfillment Service clients from startups to more seasoned internet retailers are all expecting higher online volumes, especially in categories supporting hobbies, comfort at home and health.
For the last several months, high volumes have impacted ecommerce retailers selling on Amazon and Walmart to internet artisans selling on Etsy, eBay and their own websites powered by Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and other shopping carts. Shippers have had to increase resources to manage the higher online order volumes coming out of fulfillment centers, as consumers shopped more from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shippers and fulfillment centers alike dealt with workforce challenges, both recruiting to meet the higher workload and replace absent teammates who fell ill, needed to be quarantined or take care of children home from school. eFulfillment Service has seen internet order volumes 20% to 40% higher since March 2020, and expects the holiday season to follow those trends.
“We hire additional staff for the holiday season every year,” says Merry Hawley, eFulfillment Service’s Human Resources Manager. “This year we’re adding more staff than in a typical holiday season, and bringing them on earlier.”
