The holiday season is prime revenue time for ecommerce businesses—as long as they manage to deliver their packages to shoppers.
To make sure you’re prepared, we’ve consolidated 2024 holiday shipping deadlines for all major US shipping services. Keep reading for tips on how to meet these deadlines and keep customers happy during the busiest time of the year.
Key holiday shipping deadlines for 2024
While ecommerce businesses usually see most of their sales during Black Friday Cyber Monday, the holiday shopping season is in full swing until Christmas and New Year’s. That’s why most of the following shipping deadlines are built around Christmas Eve.
These are the holiday shipping cutoff dates in the US for UPS, FedEx, and USPS:
UPS holiday shipping deadlines
UPS | Shipping deadline | Estimated arrival day |
UPS® Ground | Custom based on city | Custom based on city |
UPS 3 Day Select® | December 19 | December 24 |
UPS 2nd Day Air® | December 20 | December 24 |
UPS Next Day Air® | December 23 | December 24 |
FedEx holiday shipping deadlines (US domestic parcel services)
FedEx | Deadline | Estimated arrival day |
FedEx Ground® Economy | December 13 | December 24 |
FedEx Ground® | December 17–23 (custom) | December 24 |
FedEx Express Saver® | December 19 | December 24 |
FedEx 2Day® and FedEx 2Day AM® | December 20 | December 24 |
FedEx First/Priority/Standard Overnight® | December 23 | December 24 |
FedEx SameDay® | December 24 | December 24 |
USPS holiday shipping deadlines (US domestic mail)
USPS | Deadline | Estimated arrival day |
USPS Ground Advantage® Service | December 18 | Before December 25 |
First-Class Mail® Service | December 18 | Before December 25 |
Priority Mail® Service | December 19 | Before December 25 |
Priority Mail Express® Service | December 21 | Before December 25 |
International holiday shipping deadlines
If your brand ships packages outside the US, take a look at these important international shipping deadlines:
To Canada before December 25 | ||
USPS | FedEx | UPS |
First-Class Package International Service®: December 9 | International Connect Plus®: December 17 | UPS® Standard: custom based on city |
Priority Mail International® Service: December 9 | International Economy®: December 18 | UPS Worldwide Expedited®: December 20 |
Priority Mail Express International® Service: December 16 | International Priority®: December 19 | UPS Worldwide Express®: December 23 |
To Mexico before December 25 | ||
USPS | FedEx | UPS |
First-Class Package International Service®: December 9 | International Connect Plus®: December 19 | UPS® Standard: custom based on city |
Priority Mail International® Service: December 9 | International Economy®: December 19 | UPS Worldwide Expedited®: December 19 |
Priority Mail Express International® Service: December 16 | International Priority®: December 20 | UPS Worldwide Express®: December 20 |
Which major shipping services are operating on which holidays?
If you’re scrambling at the last minute on any holiday, here are the major shipping services you’ll be able to access on day of, including UPS, FedEx, and USPS:
UPS holiday operations
Holiday | Operating? | Notes |
Veterans Day (November 11) | Yes | Packages mailed by UPS SurePost® and UPS® Mail Innovations require an extra business day in transit during federal holidays. |
Thanksgiving (November 28) | No | Some UPS store locations may be closed. Confirm operating hours for the store close to your location. |
Black Friday (November 29) | Yes | UPS services resume operation the day after Thanksgiving, which marks the start of BFCM sales. |
Christmas Eve (December 24) | Yes | UPS® pickup for Air and international Air services only if pre-arranged by December 19, 2024. No UPS Ground® service pickup. |
Christmas Day (December 25) | No | Some UPS store locations may be closed. Confirm operating hours for the store close to your location. |
New Year’s Eve (December 31) | Yes | UPS® pickup for Air and international Air services only if prearranged by December 26, 2024. No UPS Ground® service pickup. Some UPS store locations may be closed. Confirm operating hours for the store close to your location. |
New Year’s Day (January 1) | No | Some UPS store locations may be closed. Confirm operating hours for the store close to your location. |
FedEx holiday operations
Holiday | Operating? | Notes |
Veterans Day | Yes | While open, FedEx Express® and FedEx Ground® Economy are on modified service. |
Thanksgiving | No | FedEx Custom Critical® is open on Thanksgiving. |
Black Friday | Yes | FedEx Express® is on modified service. |
Christmas Eve | Yes | While open, FedEx Express® is on modified service. |
Christmas Day | No | FedEx Custom Critical® is available. |
New Year’s Eve | Yes | While open, FedEx Express® and FedEx Freight® are on modified service. |
New Year’s Day | No | FedEx Custom Critical® is available. |
USPS holiday operations
As opposed to UPS and FedEx, which offer some modified services on some major holidays, the USPS and other post offices are closed during major and federal holidays, including:
- Veterans Day
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas
No mail will be delivered on these days, so make sure to plan your packages in advance so they can arrive before operations shut down on these dates.
4 holiday shipping tips to keep customers happy
It’s easy for shipping services to become overwhelmed during the holidays. Throw in unpredictable factors like bad weather or supply chain issues, and pretty soon you realize that some delays can’t be avoided—even if you’ve carefully planned for shipping deadlines.
Still, there are a few steps you can take to make sure your brand is protected against any delays with a good CRM strategy. Here are some tips to help you keep customers happy by either preventing delays or communicating effectively about them.
The safest way to steer clear of shipping delays is to plan ahead for the season. To ship your packages early, announce your holiday sales 2–3 weeks before the holiday. This way, you can make sure potential customers see your offer and have enough time to consider their purchases before taking the plunge.
Many customers who face shipping delays are often less upset about the delay and more upset about a lack of communication about the delay. Order tracking is the best way to get around this, as it offers an always-on window into shipping timelines for the customer. If you’re not already taking advantage of flows, you can create one for shipping confirmations and order updates.
So much of stellar customer service is just transparent communication. Shipping delays are sometimes inevitable—when they do happen, you can still keep customers happy by keeping them in the know. When in doubt, just be honest—and if you can afford it, a free gift won’t go unnoticed.
If it makes financial sense for your brand, offer free shipping during the holiday season. Even if you don’t have enough financial leeway to offer free shipping, you still have some options, including setting a minimum order value to qualify for free shipping, offering free shipping only to your VIP program members, and sending out a “last call” for free shipping.
Read our deep dive for more details on the above recommendations, plus 6 more tips on how to avoid ecommerce shipping delays around the holidays.
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