Holiday Shipping Deadlines 2023

The 2023 holiday season is here – and that means holiday shipping deadlines aren’t far behind.

In an era where consumers take next-day shipping and even same-day delivery services for granted, it can be challenging for brands to prepare their customers for the realities of holiday season e-commerce.

Where consumers can often rely on placing last-minute or impulse orders, this is a risky strategy during peak season. The longer you leave your gift purchases, the less likely it is you'll receive your order in time for Christmas delivery.

Holiday shipping deadlines are an essential tool during peak season to help merchants manage customer expectations and minimize poor customer experiences resulting from late delivery.

In this post, you'll find important 2023 holiday shipping deadlines for USPS, FedEx, and UPS – along with some other pearls of wisdom for managing holiday shipping effectively.

What are holiday shipping deadlines?

Holiday shipping deadlines refer to cut-off dates that packages must be shipped by to guarantee delivery in time for Christmas or other holiday events. If an order is shipped after the cut-off date, the parcel carrier cannot guarantee it will make the expected delivery date - which may leave gift recipients empty-handed.

Shipping companies implement cut-off dates because parcel networks are put under increased operational pressure during Q4. This is the busiest time of year for postal services, thanks to holiday events such as Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas occurring within a few weeks of each other, leading to a massive surge in residential parcel volumes.

Important holiday shipping deadlines like Christmas Eve help a postal service ease pressure on their networks by encouraging earlier shipments and helping merchants plan their holiday shipping strategies more effectively. Communicating these cut-off delivery dates to shoppers reduces last-minute deliveries and ensures packages arrive on time.

Shipping deadlines vary depending on several factors, including:

• The parcel carrier
• The service level e.g. standard delivery versus next day air services
• The delivery destination

For example, international shipping deadlines have much earlier cut-off dates than domestic shipments, which may have shipping deadlines as late as Christmas Eve for a first class mail service.

How to manage holiday shipping deadlines effectively

Notify customers about cut-off dates

Holiday shipping deadlines are typically released at the beginning of the holiday shopping season (late September - early October). Once the schedule has been released, it's important to communicate this to your customers with plenty of notice to avoid disappointment. For example, you can add a banner to the home page of your website with the relevant shipping deadline, or post a countdown on social media as the ‘last day to ship’ gets closer.

Be conservative with lead times

Brands have more to consider than just shipping deadlines during the holiday season; they need to factor in their lead times for processing and fulfilling online orders. There's also the possibility of shipping delays due to labor shortages or technical issues. This means that some last-minute gift purchases can miss your carrier's cut-off date.

It’s a good idea to add some additional days on top of your carrier's shipping deadline to ensure that all orders are shipped on time. For example, if your carrier’s cut-off date is the 16th of December, your brand’s cut-off for ordering could be the 14th to be on the safe side.

Use shipping promotions to drive earlier ordering

Every consumer approaches the holidays differently. Some super-organized shoppers will buy all of their gifts by Halloween, while the last-minute shoppers are placing orders just shy of Christmas Day. But the later your customers leave it to place their order, the more likely a late delivery will occur.

By incentivizing customers to place their orders earlier, you can ensure that more gifts arrive on time and minimize upset shoppers who may go on to post negative reviews about your brand (even if late delivery wasn't your fault). For example, offering free shipping on all orders placed before a certain date helps to drive buyer urgency to place orders earlier, helping to avoid late shipments.

2023 holiday shipping deadlines

Below is a list of holiday shipping deadlines for USPS, FedEx, and UPS. For more information on these deadlines, check the individual carrier's website.

USPS holiday shipping deadlines 2023

Domestic (U.S. mainland)

USPS Retail Ground Advantage: Sat. Dec 16, 2023

USPS First Class Mail®: Sat. Dec 16, 2023

USPS Priority Mail: Mon. Dec 18, 2023

USPS Priority Mail Express: Wed. Dec 20, 2023

U.S. mainland to Alaska

USPS Ground Advantage: Dec. 16, 2023

USPS First-Class Mail: Dec. 16, 2023

Priority Mail: Dec. 18, 2023

Priority Mail Express Service: Dec. 20, 2023

U.S. mainland to Hawaii

USPS Ground Advantage: Dec. 16, 2023

USPS First-Class Mail: Dec. 16, 2023

Priority Mail Service: Dec. 16, 2023

Priority Mail Express Service: Dec. 20, 2023

U.S. to Africa

First-Class Package International Service: Nov. 29, 2023

Priority Mail International Service: Nov. 29, 2023

Priority Mail Express International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Global Express Guaranteed Service: Dec. 15, 2023

U.S. to Asia/Pacific Rim

First-Class Package International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Priority Mail International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Priority Mail Express International Service: Dec. 13, 2023

Global Express Guaranteed Service: Dec. 15, 2023

U.S. to Australia/New Zealand

First-Class Package International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Priority Mail International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Priority Mail Express International Service: Dec. 13, 2023

Global Express Guaranteed Service: Dec. 15, 2023

U.S. to Canada

First-Class Package International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Priority Mail International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Priority Mail Express International Service: Dec. 13, 2023

Global Express Guaranteed Service: Dec. 15, 2023

U.S. to the Caribbean

First-Class Package International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Priority Mail International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Priority Mail Express International Service: Dec. 13, 2023

Global Express Guaranteed Service: Dec. 15, 203

U.S. to Central & South America

First-Class Package International Service: Nov. 29, 2023

Priority Mail International Service: Nov. 29, 2023

Priority Mail Express International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Global Express Guaranteed Service: Dec. 15, 2023

U.S. to Europe

First-Class Package International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Priority Mail International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Priority Mail Express International Service: Dec. 13, 2023

Global Express Guaranteed Service: Dec. 15, 2023

U.S. to Mexico

First-Class Package International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Priority Mail International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Priority Mail Express International Service: Dec. 13, 2023

Global Express Guaranteed Service: Dec. 15, 2023

U.S. to the Middle East

First-Class Package International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Priority Mail International Service: Dec. 6, 2023

Priority Mail Express International Service: Dec. 13, 2023

Global Express Guaranteed Service: Dec. 15, 2023

FedEx holiday shipping deadlines 2023

Domestic express services

FedEx SameDay: Fri. Dec. 22, 2023

FO , PO , SO, Extra Hours: Thu. Dec 21, 2023 (Fri. Dec. 22, 2023 with Sat. delivery selected)

2Day & 2Day AM: Wed. Dec 20, 2023

FedEx Express Saver: Tue. Dec 19, 2023

FedEx Express® 1Day Freight: Thu. Dec 21, 2023

FedEx Express® 2Day Freight: Wed. Dec 20, 2023

FedEx Express® 3Day Freight: Tue. Dec 19, 2023

FedEx Ground services

FedEx Ground: Dec 15 - Dec 21, 2023

FedEx Home Delivery: Dec 15 - Dec 22, 2023

FedEx Ground Economy: Wed. Dec 13, 2023

U.S. to Canada

FedEx® International Next Flight: Fri. Dec. 22, 2023

FedEx International First®: Thu. Dec 21, 2023

FedEx International Priority®: Wed. Dec 20, 2023

FedEx International Priority Distribution®: Wed. Dec 20, 2023

FedEx International Economy®: Tue. Dec 19, 2023

FedEx International Connect Plus: Mon. Dec. 18, 2023

FedEx Ground: Dec. 13 - Dec, 20, 2023

U.S. to Mexico

FedEx® International Next Flight: Fri. Dec. 22, 2023

FedEx International First®: Thu. Dec 21, 2023

FedEx International Priority®: Thu. Dec 21, 2023

FedEx International Economy®: Wed. Dec 20, 2023

FedEx International Connect Plus: Wed. Dec 20, 2023

U.S. to Puerto Rico

FedEx® International Next Flight: Fri. Dec. 22, 2023

FedEx International First®: Thu. Dec 21, 2023

FedEx International Priority®: Wed. Dec 20, 2023

FedEx International Priority Distribution®: Wed. Dec 20, 2023

FedEx International Economy®: Tue. Dec 19, 2023

UPS holiday shipping deadlines 2023

Domestic

UPS® Ground Shipping: Check ups.com/ctc for route-specific details

UPS Next Day Air®: Dec. 21, 2023

UPS 2nd Day Air®: Dec. 20, 2023

UPS® 3 Day Select: Dec. 19, 2023

U.S. to Canada

UPS Worldwide Expedited: Dec. 19, 2023

UPS Worldwide Express services: Dec. 20, 2023

U.S. to Mexico

UPS Worldwide Expedited: Dec. 19, 2023

UPS Worldwide Express services: Dec. 20, 2023

Top tips for a smoother 2023 holiday shipping season

Be ready for earlier holiday shopping

Thanks to worries about price increases and the need to spread out holiday spending, consumers are starting their gift-buying earlier than ever.

According to Numerator’s 2023 holiday shopping survey, 54% of consumers say that inflation will have a moderate or significant impact on their holiday spending this year. Naturally, this has a big impact on what proportion of orders are going to be placed at what time.

This is good news for shippers, as earlier holiday shopping means that fewer orders are going to be placed close to shipping cut-off dates. However, there are still those last-minute shoppers to watch out for. If you run a local store, consider steering these customers toward BOPIS or curbside pickup options to avoid taking a chance with home delivery.

Peak season surcharges are at a record-high

A peak season or demand surcharge is an additional fee applied on top of base shipping rates during periods of high demand. The more operational resources required to process a package, the higher the package surcharge. With parcel carriers continuing to experience unprecedented demand for home delivery services, residential deliveries, and high-volume shippers are set to experience the biggest fees during the holiday season.

For many merchants, this is going to require careful management to prevent increased shipping costs (and delivery timeframes) from eroding their profit margins. Check out our full guide on 2023 peak surcharges to find out how you can still ensure a profitable holiday season.

Free shipping is a coveted perk

Given the massive financial hit that many households have taken this year, it's not surprising that shipping costs are a major factor in holiday purchasing decisions. According to Shippo’s 2023 State of Shipping Report, 75% of consumers who were given the choice between a free and fast shipping promotion would choose free shipping.

Merchants need to be aware that offering free shipping during the holidays can make or break a business's profitability. If you're embarking on a free shipping strategy, make sure you're using the right approach for your business. Implementing order minimums for free shipping, offering free shipping as a limited-time offer, or as a loyalty reward helps to control shipping costs while rewarding your most valuable customers.

In addition to tepid consumer spending, consumer expectations for fast, affordable, and seamless delivery are putting pressure on fulfillment operations. Understanding and communicating holiday shipping deadlines is essential to achieve a successful and profitable holiday season and limit the number of late deliveries that take place at such an important time of year for revenue generation.

By partnering with an experienced 3PL like Ryder for e-commerce fulfillment, brands gain access to the very best shipping experts and carrier partnerships to capitalize on the growth opportunities of the holiday season. Whether it's the most cost-effective shipping rates or effective last-mile delivery, Ryder is the ultimate partner to help you navigate the complexities of e-commerce fulfillment.