HOW MANY SHOPPING DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS?
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How Many Shopping Days Until Christmas?
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By Steve Nash
I keep visiting sites that tell me there's [ insert number here ] shopping days
until Christmas. This cute bit of JavaScript (or whatever!) was annoying enough
two years ago with the impending arrival of year 2000. But at least the number
was correct! The trouble is, there are not [insert number here] shopping days
until Christmas on the Internet, there are *several shopping days* less!
Why so? Well, there is no point Christmas shopping if you cannot give your gift
IN TIME for Christmas! (Is there?)
So there may be [x] Christmas shopping days left in the bricks and mortar world.
However, most (if not all) shopping sites will only guarantee Christmas delivery
at least 5 days earlier than that!
How many shopping days so i receive it by Christmas?
Good question! Some shopping sites put customers first, and state quite clearly
just when you need to purchase in time for Christmas. Their statement is usually
as simple as this: "No Christmas orders can be accepted after the
18th December".
AMAZON.COM, some say the champions of customer service, dedicate a whole page to
Christmas delivery dates, with the more accurate (if alarming): "Only [3]
days left to ensure delivery by Dec 23 by standard shipping." (Note: this
was true on December 12th, 2000!)
Click the link and you'll find a neat little schedule telling you the last day
for a particular type of post. (They even include a schedule for international
orders!! And, as an 'international customer' myself, that really is comforting
information!) Amazon's UK site is equally up front about Christmas delivery
dates, too!
Unfortunately, I struggled to find a Christmas delivery schedule for quite a few
major sites (Buy.com, Barnes & Noble, CDNow...), and a whole heap of smaller
sites. Don't their customers' concerns matter? Don't they realise that one
simple Christmas delivery schedule could dramatically improve their 'customer
conversion ratio'? (And maybe make for more satisfied customers too!)
It doesn't matter if you're a buyer or a seller!
If you're an online merchant, a seller, I hope you think about the content of
this article; maybe post a quick schedule NOW if you don't have one. (You only
have [x] days to do it, though!!!) If you're a potential customer, a buyer, -
just about everyone reading this, I'd say! - DO YOU REALLY want to buy from a
site, when you have no idea if you will receive your purchase in time?
Thanks, and good luck with all your last-minute shopping.
Season's greetings to all!
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Steve Nash is site-owner of Shop Tour UK and has already bought
all of his presents (on-line)! If you're stuck for ideas for those
last-minute presents, visit our Gifts pages (see links below) where you'll find;
Christmas essentials, gift ideas and more! But hurry...!
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