The importance of availability

You’ve checked the holiday shipping deadlines and found the perfect gift. Think you’ve got everything covered? Think again! If you didn’t check the item’s availability before you ordered, you might be in for a surprise.

Just because an item is listed on an online store, doesn’t mean it’s ready to ship out when your order it. Many online retailers ship items based on availability. If it’s in stock, the item will usually ship the same or the next day; if it’s not, you could be waiting weeks – or even months – for the item to ship.

Just look at this example from Chapters.Indigo.ca (it’s pretty typical):







This DVD set came up in search results and I can purchase it immediately, but it won’t ship for 1 – 2 weeks. It’s still early, so that leaves me plenty of time but, if I had waited until early December to order, there’s little chance I’d have it before Christmas.

Take a minute, the next time you’re shopping, to see how long it will take for the item you want to ship. If that extra time pushes you past the cut off deadline for holiday shipping, you may want to reconsider your order or look elsewhere for the item.