Christmas is only a few days away, are you ready? Your orders have been packed and sent on their way. At this point in the holiday season frenzy, the delivery of your products is a make it or break it situation. It all starts with the ordering of the parcel and the shipping service selected. If you plan ahead, you can use slower but reliable shipping that will save you money to spend on other orders. If you are not the planning type of person -- and run on last minute ordering -- invest in a guaranteed faster shipping service that will get your order to your customer's door in time.

Parcels are taking longer than the average transit window so it can make it difficult to plan for the service and delivery of your parcel. Finding out the process of the shipping and deliverer will be key to protecting your parcel from the hustle and bustle. Sometimes investing in a guaranteed service might protect your product and order from being too delayed.

Here are just a few holiday eCommerce tips that will help you both in the holiday season and year round.

• Make sure the provided address is correct
• Know the service and transit window
• If it is an expensive order, invest in a guaranteed service
• Have realistic expectations for late-ordered packages
• Provide delivery instructions included in the address for the order
• Be joyful and kind to those who are handling your parcel
• Plan far enough in advance that you know your parcel will be delivered in time

As the holidays are in full swing, go against the norm and be stress-free and patiently wait. As long as you followed these simple online holiday shopping tips, it's unlikely you'll have issues receiving your parcel in time for the holidays. Packages that have been ordered past the suggested date most likely will be delivered past christmas. If you can’t remember those dates, we got you covered. Check out our previous blog post that explains all the Christmas shipping deadlines. At this point, if your parcel was shipped after the deadlines, expect it to be late. As in life, communication is key for both parties involved in this process to have their expectations met.