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Christmas shipping deadlines 2026: how to set them and show them in your Shopify store

Updated: 11 November 2026

In December the question customers ask most is: “Will it arrive before Christmas?”. If you answer it before it is asked, you sell more and have fewer emails to answer. Here is how to set the last order days for 2026 and show them in your store.

The 2026 holiday calendar

Christmas Eve is Thursday 24 December 2026 and, since 2025, a public holiday in Poland. Christmas is Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December. In practice the last deliveries before Christmas happen on Wednesday 23 December, and many couriers no longer work on the 24th.

On top of that comes the parcel peak after Black Friday (27 November) and St Nicholas Day (6 December), so in the second half of December parcels can take longer than usual.

How to set the last order day

  1. Check your carriers' announcements. InPost, couriers (DPD, DHL, GLS, Orlen Paczka) and Poczta Polska publish recommended posting dates before Christmas every year.
  2. Subtract the time you need to pack an order, usually 1 business day.
  3. Add one day of buffer for peak delays.
  4. Write down a separate deadline for each delivery method. Poczta Polska usually needs earlier posting than couriers and parcel lockers.
  5. Store pickup can have the latest deadline, even 23 December.

Where to show the deadlines

  • A bar at the top of the page with the next deadline and a countdown.
  • A short note next to the Add to cart button: “Arrives before Christmas if ordered by 20 December (InPost)”.
  • A page with the full list of deadlines, linked from the bar.
  • An email to your mailing list a few days before the first deadline.

After the last deadline

When the deadline of the last delivery method has passed, say clearly that orders placed now ship after Christmas. Offer a gift card the customer can give right away. Sales keep going and nobody feels misled.

Honesty first

Only promise deadlines you can really keep. A late gift means a return, a bad review and a customer who won't come back. Better close a day early than promise too much.

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