Holiday Season Checklist

Peak season sneaks up fast. One day it's pumpkin spice, the next you're buried in orders with no plan. This checklist pulls together everything worth doing before the rush hits: shop setup, shipping, promotions, fulfillment, and what happens after the last gift ships. Work through it now, and future you gets to enjoy the busy season instead of scrambling through it.

Shop setup

Before anything else, make sure your shop's ready for more eyes than usual.

Stock up Restock your best sellers and add anything new before traffic picks up. An empty listing loses more sales than an empty shelf.
Check your counts Update inventory so nothing sells that you don't actually have.
Test checkout yourself Run through a real purchase, confirm your payment methods work, and make sure shipping options show up the way you expect.
Freshen up photos and descriptions Call out anything that makes a great gift. Buyers are shopping for other people now, not just themselves.
Give your template a seasonal touch A banner or a few tweaks go a long way toward feeling ready for the season.

Shipping

Shipping is where holiday shopping either delights people or turns into a support ticket. Lock this down early.

Confirm your rates Double-check your shipping settings reflect current carrier rates, so you're not quietly covering the difference on every order.
Set your shipping deadlines Decide the last day you can guarantee delivery before the holidays, and post it somewhere buyers will actually see it.
Stock up on packaging Boxes, mailers, tape. Order more than you think you'll need. Running out mid-rush is its own kind of chaos.
Plan for delays Carriers slow down under holiday volume. Build in a buffer and set expectations up front so a slow package doesn't feel like a broken promise.

Promotions

Once the basics are covered, give shoppers a reason to buy from you specifically.

Plan your discounts Decide what you're running and when: one big sale, a few smaller pushes, or a countdown to a cutoff.
Update your banners and homepage Make the season, and the sale, obvious the second someone lands on your shop.
Get the word out early Tease it on social and in email wherever your buyers already follow you. Don't wait until the day of.
Make gift-giving easy Bundle products, add gift notes, or call out your best gift-worthy items, anything that saves a shopper from guessing.

Fulfillment

Orders are coming in. Now's the part where you actually get them out the door.

Have a plan for order processing Know how you'll handle a spike in orders before it happens, not while it's happening.
Use Vacation Mode when you need it If you're stepping away or need to pause new orders, Vacation Mode keeps your shop from taking on more than you can ship.
Batch what you can Print labels, pack orders, and process in batches instead of one at a time. It adds up fast during peak weeks.
Communicate proactively A quick note about processing times or delays heads off a lot of "where's my order?" messages later.

Post-holiday

The rush ends, but the to-do list doesn't, not quite yet.

Set your returns policy, and post it Decide your window and process before the first return request lands, not after.
Clear out leftover holiday stock Run a clearance sale or fold it into your regular lineup.
Take stock of what sold Your best and worst sellers this season are the clearest hint for what to stock, or skip, next year.
Rest Peak season asks a lot of you. Give yourself room to recover before diving into what's next.

Want more detail on any of these? [Help Center: link] has step-by-step guides on shipping deadlines, Vacation Mode, and more. Work through this list now, and when peak season hits, you're ready for it instead of catching up to it.