2024 Holiday Rush Calendar

As the holiday season approaches, Big Cartel sellers are preparing their ecommerce shops for the busiest time of the year. Q4 is packed with key shopping events, like Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, holiday craft market season, and beyond. To maximize sales and customer satisfaction, it's key that you prepare for these major dates and keep shipping deadlines in mind. We’ve broken down the essential holiday dates and highlighted important shipping cutoff times to help you stay ahead of the game and enjoy a successful, stress-free holiday selling season. 

Key Holiday 2024 Dates for Ecommerce: 

While these dates reflect holidays and shopping holidays, it’s best to start planning your holiday selling strategy, prepping inventory, promoting product drops and holiday sales on your socials and other marketing channels by early November at the latest. Get ahead of the curve with this guide on how to prepare your shop for the holiday season. 

Plan, Prep, & Promote!: Mid-October – Mid-December

Singles' Day: Monday, November 11, 2024

Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 28, 2024

Black Friday: Friday, November 29, 2024

Small Business Saturday: Saturday, November 30, 2024 

Cyber Monday: Monday, December 2, 2024

St. Nick’s: Friday, December 6, 2024 

Noche Buena/Christmas Eve: Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Hanukkah: Wednesday, December 25, 2024 – Thursday, January 2, 2025

Christmas: Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Boxing Day: Thursday, December 26, 2024

Kwanzaa: Thursday, December 26, 2024 – Wed, January 1, 2025

New Year’s Eve: Sunday, December 31, 2024

Pro tip: Many shops create special product drops for holidays like Halloween or Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Regardless of which holiday you’re celebrating, there’s always an opportunity to offer a unique discount or launch a new product to engage your customers. It’s never too early to start planning ahead!

Holiday Shipping Cutoffs 2024

Last-minute holiday shoppers are inevitable. To keep your customers satisfied, know your preferred shipping carrier’s cutoff dates if you want orders to arrive by Christmas or the first day of Hanukkah—which are on the same day this year—and communicate those cutoffs.  Pro tip: If you’re a Platinum or Diamond seller in the U.S. and Canada, you can access unlimited discounted shipping labels directly from Big Cartel! Not only does this save you up to 90% off carrier rates, but you can streamline your fulfillment process by performing all your shipping tasks without ever leaving the platform!

Many Big Cartel templates let you add welcome text to your homepage. Themes like Cosmos, Luna, Neat, Netizen, Parade, Ranger, Roadie, and Sunscreen also include an announcement banner across all pages—perfect for sharing holiday shipping deadlines and highlighting your holiday promotions. Just update the message in the Design section of your admin and hit Publish.

For the most accurate details, check with your shipping carrier, but here are some estimated shipping deadlines (for orders shipping within the United States) to ensure packages arrive before December 25.

USPS Holiday Shipping Deadlines U.S. 2024

UPS Holiday Shipping Deadlines U.S. 2024

FedEx Holiday Shipping Deadlines U.S. 2024

Royal Mail Holiday Shipping Deadlines U.K. 2024

Canada Post Holiday Shipping Deadlines C.A. 2024