ShipBob 2017 Holiday Guide

For the 2018 holiday guide, please click here!

ShipBob is committed to bringing you and your customers joy with streamlined order fulfillment this holiday season.

As you already know, there are no increases in cost for storage of inventory or our all-in-one fulfillment cost. We will continue to provide a great service at a fair rate. We value our partnerships with you as fellow entrepreneurs and know that your success leads to success for us, too.

Here are a few things to keep in mind for the best fulfillment experience for you and your customers this season!

Holiday schedule

ShipBob's fulfillment centers and offices will be open Monday through Friday as normal, except for the observed holidays below:

Thanksgiving - Thursday, November 23

Christmas - Monday, December 25

New Year's Day - Monday, January 1

Holiday forecasting

If you are anticipating a greater amount of orders than in previous months and/or more than last holiday season with ShipBob, we would be grateful for detailed information. Please send to your Account Executive or Account Manager and we will share with our forecasting team.

Helpful information includes any forecasting data you have already prepared, an anticipated percentage increase from normal volume, and any planned marketing or social media blasts and the expected increase in orders as a result. Thank you for your help!

Getting in touch with us

We remain committed to providing fast response times this season. While we do offer phone support, the best way to get in touch with us is through an electronic ticket. Using this method, you can select your Category as "Request A Call" and one of our customer success representatives will call you soon. All tickets and voicemails are responded to in the order in which they are received.

Our committed turnaround time is one business day, but we will likely be back with you much sooner than that!

Delivery cutoffs

To ensure delivery before Christmas, please note the cutoffs below for our carriers and note this is guidance provided by the carriers. Only 2-day and Overnight options have guaranteed delivery commitments by the carriers.

Domestic

Orders must be imported by 12 p.m. local time on the dates listed below:

DHL Ground: December 8

USPS First Class: December 15

UPS Ground: December 15

USPS Priority: December 19

UPS 2-Day: December 19

USPS Express: December 21

UPS Overnight: December 21

International

Orders must be imported by 12 p.m. local time on the dates listed below:

Standard: November 14

Expedited: December 18

Note from UPS: Guarantees are suspended for all UPS Ground shipments, including shipments to and from AK, HI and PR, and UPS Standard shipments picked up or scheduled for delivery Nov. 27–Dec. 24.

ShipBob turnaround times

Please see our guide to turnaround times here. Our 12 p.m. local cutoff time applies the the order import time into ShipBob, not when the order is placed in your store.

Tracking packages

As a reminder, our carriers do NOT scan packages at our facilities. During the holidays, our carriers may get backed up and cause a delay in tracking, especially USPS Media Mail.

Even though lost packages are out of our control once they're in our carriers' hands, we have an excellent insurance policy that will reimburse you up to $100 of the retail value — no questions asked and no need to purchase insurance.

If tracking is not updating, please wait for 15 days of no updates (domestic orders) or 30 days of no updates (international orders) to file a claim per our lost in transit policies. After these time periods, we will instantly reimburse you up to $100 based on the retail value of the order and declare the package lost.

Please note that we do not call carriers to inquire about packages, as the only information they provide matches the information on the tracking number.

For orders with retail values OVER $100, insure your package at 1.5% of the value to ensure claims coverage for the value.

Receiving and inventory best practices

Our receiving turnaround time is up to 5 business days. Unfortunately, we do not offer expedited receiving for the holiday season.

Here is a guide for re-order notifications to successfully manage your inventory. Contact your Account Executive or Account Manager with any questions on this.

Without a WRO filled out and included in each package, we are unable to process your inventory and the 5 business day turnaround no longer applies.

When possible, barcoding each individual item will be the most reliable and seamless way to process your inventory and fulfill orders.

Here's to a successful and happy holiday season! We wish you and yours all the best!

Thank you,

The ShipBob Team