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Experts urge holiday shoppers to order ahead, get a head start on shipping

Plenty of places dealt with delays last holiday season— and that can spell trouble if you wait too long. Here’s why you may want to get gifts shipped out early.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — With the holidays inching closer, local stores like ‘Domestic Domestic’ have already seen more customers.

"The holiday shopping season has 100% begun and it seems to be stronger than probably we've ever experienced," said owner Heather Smith.

Smith said that they've made sure to prepare ahead of time this year to help prevent any supply chain issues

“We've brought in a lot more products this year than we ever have before,” Smith explained.

Smith's store ships items to customers here in the natural state and across the country.

“If you come into the store and need something to ship to grandma in St. Louis like it's still free. So, you can buy your gifts here and we'll wrap them and then send them,” Smith added.

With holiday shopping underway, experts are encouraging shoppers to get a head start on shipping as well to prevent delays.

“Nobody wants to be disappointed, and we certainly don't want to be the ones that disappoint people," she said.

The United States Postal Service has agreed that getting an early start is the best way to go.

 “We will start in late November delivering on Sundays for the holiday season,” said Julie Chudy with the USPS.

Chudy said that there are extra precautions you can take— like making sure information is inside your package and not just on the outside.

“In case something happens to that label and when our loss department opens it, you still have the name and address, and we can go ahead and ship it on,” she said.

The postal service is also making sure that they have more hands-on to help ensure nothing arrives late.

“We are fully staffed and ready for the holidays,” Chudy.

USPS isn’t alone, other big shippers like UPS are doing the same thing by staffing up ahead of the rush—  which also means more seasonal jobs for people looking for work.

“We're bringing in about 20 seasonal part-time management, roughly 100 driver helpers,” said Adrian Hill with UPS.

The bottom line is that you don't wait too long, or you might just miss out this holiday season.

FedEx has already released its holiday shipping schedule, click here to see it.

   

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