Important Notices — BFCM Holiday Preparation & Customer Service Hours

The Ultimate Guide to Supercharge Your Holiday Season Success! 🚀

Get ready to elevate your holiday game with insights and strategies that can make a real difference. Inside, you'll find crucial information on:

📆 Important Operational Cut-off Dates

📈 Q4 Volume Forecasts

📜 Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Changes Freeze

🚢 Ship Method Mapping Changes Freeze

📦 Stocking Up On Supplies

🚀 Rush Receiving Requests / Order Escalations

💻 Tech Code Freeze

🕒 BFCM Customer Support Hours

🚚 Important Carrier Shipping Reminders

This isn't your typical holiday guide; it's your secret weapon for achieving a standout season. Dive into these invaluable tips, and don't forget to share this knowledge with your team. Together, let's make this holiday season one for the record books!

Important Operational Cutoff Dates

Deadlines and cut-off dates are important for us to maintain operational efficiency, stability, and focus as we lead up to the holidays.

Carrier Cut Off Dates - 

International Shipping Cut Off Dates:

FlavorCloud:

Has not provided cut off dates yet but should be similar to Passport

Q4 Volume Forecasts

It’s never too early to start planning for the holiday season, and the best way to partner with MasonHub to ensure success is to provide us with your projected Q4 volume forecasts as soon as possible. 

🚨Our deadline is  September 15  for Q4 projected kitting, inbound, and outbound volume.  We’re already hard at work reviewing our staffing plan for Q4 and want to make sure we set you and MasonHub up for success.

Each year we ask you to provide Q4 volume early so we can plan staffing and allocate necessary resources to meet your demand. We understand that planning so far out is challenging and your forecasts may evolve as your team finalizes plans for holiday sales and partnerships. That’s OK! Using the information available to you now to build a forecast paired with ongoing communication with us will lay the foundation for a successful peak season.

As a reminder (detailed in the link below) - if your volume exceeds your forecast, there is an opportunity (with your approval) for MasonHub to extend working hours to clear the backlog and fulfill your orders promptly. Please note that overtime fees will be billed in addition to your standard fulfillment fees, reflecting the additional resources and efforts required.

The more info you can provide, the better you and MasonHub are set up for success!

Read more about why forecasts are important, how they’re determined, and how they’re used at MasonHub.

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Changes

Now is the time to evaluate and communicate any potential adjustments you may be contemplating. 

The sooner we can review your changes, the sooner we can provide feedback and pricing, ensure we have the inventory needed, train our teams, and implement the new SOP.

Please note that from October 20 - December 23, we will be unable to implement and support any SOP changes in order to maintain operational stability and focus on delivering exceptional results during this critical period.

Beat the holiday rush by letting us know what changes to expect now!

Rate Shop & Ship Method Mapping Changes

To ensure a seamless shopping experience for your customers during the upcoming holiday season, we recommend planning any updates to your checkout delivery options well in advance. Please communicate any new shipping methods you intend to introduce to your checkout as soon as possible. This will allow MasonHub to map them to the appropriate rate shop or ship method ahead of time, helping you avoid any last-minute rushed changes that could negatively impact your customers' experience.

To provide the best service during this critical period, please note that we are implementing a freeze on making changes to ship method mappings from November 12 to December 7 and from December 15 to January 5. We encourage you to work with your team in October to prepare and send us any new methods or updates before October 31. For any other changes before the Christmas rush, please send them to us between December 1 and December 5. This proactive approach will ensure a successful holiday season for your business.

Stocking Up on Essential Shipping Supplies

It's crucial to stock up on essential shipping supplies now, as peak season for suppliers starts early. Utilize your forecasts and assess current inventory levels to ensure you have enough for the holiday rush. Running out of packaging can delay order shipments, impacting your customers' experience. Reach out for assistance in planning your stocking needs for a seamless holiday season.

Rush Receiving Requests / Order Shipping Escalations

As we approach the peak holiday season and gear up for Black Friday/Cyber Monday, we kindly request your cooperation in limiting rush receiving requests and order shipping escalations. This will enable us to prioritize critical tasks efficiently, ensuring swift deliveries to all clients. While we always strive to accommodate your needs, the expected surge in demand may impact our ability to meet every request. Your partnership in being more selective will help us serve you better during this busy period.

Tech Code Freeze

MasonHub implements an annual Code Freeze to reduce risk during our busiest time of the year, resulting in successful fulfillment and operations for you and your customers.

This year, the MasonHub Code Freeze will begin November 3, 2024 and will be lifted January 5, 2025.

Limiting changes within our production systems allows us to ensure a stable environment when large amounts of data are flowing through our systems. This protects the integrity of your data and allows us to ensure we do not impact our ability to fulfill your customer orders during such a high-volume period.

The only exception to not releasing code to production during the Code Freeze will be to fix production-critical bugs that affect your ability to access MasonHub’s OMS or our ability to process data and ship customer orders through our API and Shopify app.

Customer Support Hours During Black Friday / Cyber Monday Holiday 

We want to assure you that MasonHub is committed to providing exceptional customer service during this critical holiday season. We understand the importance of maintaining positive relationships with all those who rely on our products and services, and we are dedicated to supporting your needs.

Our Customer Service hours are as follows and the team’s availability during the BFCM period is listed below:

• East Coast Facility: 9-5:30 EST
• West Coast Facilities: 8:30-5:30 PST

Read more about our three levels of support, expectations, and how to get in touch with our Customer Support team.

Transportation

At MasonHub, our mission is to monitor the performance and cost of our partnerships and provide solutions that support your business. We understand that shipping costs and reliability are crucial to your operations, especially during peak seasons.

Here's what you can expect from us:

1. Ongoing Review of Carrier Relationships

We are committed to reviewing our relationships with all carriers and staying informed about any seasonal changes that may impact us throughout the end of 2025. Our goal is to ensure that you receive the most up-to-date and competitive shipping rates.

2. Proactive Planning and Strategizing

The MasonHub team is actively planning and strategizing to ensure that your transportation operations continue to run smoothly. Some of the steps we are taking include:

• Coordinating with carriers to secure capacity guarantees and support for later pickups.
• Proactively stocking up on essential shipping supplies in advance to avoid any material scarcity and ensure continuity.
• Exploring diversification options with additional regional and national carriers to provide you with more choices and flexibility.

Additionally, we want to take a moment to update you on some important developments in the transportation industry that may impact your shipments as we approach the holiday season.

Carrier Peak Holiday Surcharges

Every year during the holidays, there is a significant surge in deliveries, which places added demands on carrier networks. To ensure they can continue to provide the best service possible, many carriers implement temporary rate adjustments. These adjustments can start as early as October and extend through the holiday season. These peak holiday surcharges are standard each year and will appear on your invoices.

 The amount of the surcharge will vary and depending on factors such as level of service, weight and shipping zone.

Peak Surcharge Dates

Carrier Shipping Cut-off Dates

We understand how important it is to receive holiday shipments on time. While carriers may not guarantee specific delivery dates for all shipping methods, they do provide annual cutoff dates as guidelines for Christmas delivery. We recommend not guaranteeing delivery at checkout, but using this data to plan your sales and advise customers on expedited shipping options when necessary.

General Rate Increase 

Carriers implement annual general rate increases, although the exact figures for 2026 remain uncertain at this time. To prepare, it's advisable to start budgeting for potential rate hikes in the upcoming year. This proactive approach will help you manage shipping costs effectively and adapt to any adjustments by carriers. We will communicate this information once it's provided to us by the carriers.

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Rest assured, our dedication to delivering outstanding service remains steadfast. We stand fully prepared to meet the demands of the 2025 Peak season and uphold our commitments to you.

Should you have any questions regarding these seasonal adjustments, please feel free to reach out to our Customer Service team. We are readily available to assist and support you in any manner possible.

We appreciate your choice of MasonHub as your partner and eagerly anticipate serving you this holiday season and in the future.