Arriana McLymore, Lisa Baertlein

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Shoppers who want to buy holiday gifts online in the coming year should plan well ahead. Numerous retailers are setting earlier deadlines for merchandise ordered online to reach customers’ homes before Christmas.

Frères Branchiaux Candle Press co-founder Celena Gill designated Nov. 30 as the last day for customers to place their orders if they want scented soy candles to arrive before Christmas. “We have already seen a delay in shipping this month and we anticipate that it will be worse as we near Christmas day,” Gill said. She refused to discuss last year’s shipping deadline.

State, a New York-based luggage company, is cutting off Christmas shipping three days earlier than last year’s deadline of Dec. 18. Jacqueline Tatelman co-founder said it will not be offering its two-day holiday shipping promo this year because of supply chain issues.

FedEx (NYSE:) and United States Postal Service set ground shipping deadlines for Dec. 15, identical with last year’s delivery cutoffs – even though there is one day more between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. UPS offers delivery timeline estimates through its website. These are based on shipping service, timing and location.

Some estimates suggest that delivery drivers may have to handle nearly five million additional packages daily during peak season, when volume can almost double. FedEx is already having problems with its ground division, which delivered more than 9.3 millions packages per day to customers like Walmart (NYSE 🙂 in the last quarter. FedEx, a Memphis-based company, warned in September that delivery delays were being caused by problems with retention and employee recruitment.

UPS, the world’s biggest parcel delivery firm, is dropping low-profit customers – a move that could hit vulnerable retailers. On the other hand, UPS will make nationwide deliveries on Saturdays this year and is taking several other steps to minimize “chaos costs” and improve on-time service, UPS Chief Executive Carol Tome said.

As a way to differentiate themselves from their competitors, retailers often use cutoff delivery dates. They push these out to customers who are not available during business hours to make it appealing to the last-minute. This strategy is more risky this year for smaller shops that are vulnerable to poor customer reviews. And, in a year marked by hurricanes and other severe storms, there’s little wiggle room for other unforeseen disruptions due to factors such as wicked winter weather.

This year retailers, large and small alike, are encouraging their customers to shop early in order to shift the demand and improve supply chain backups. Tome shared his concerns with analysts Tuesday on a conference phone call. He said some Americans are worried that the supply chain chaos will result in home delivery of Christmas presents.

“In fact, some think that 50% of holiday shopping will be completed by Cyber Monday,” said Tome. “Some of our customers are actually pulling forward promotions,” she said, referring to retailers’ earlier Christmas marketing messages that translated into a bump in demand.

UPS started working with Amazon.com, its largest customer, several months before. Still, it will again enforce volume limits and not pick up all requested packages if unexpected volume threatens to swamp its system – a move that hit retailers like Gap, Macy’s and Nike (NYSE:) Last year.

Shopify (NYSE) has encouraged merchants updating their shipping policy pages. This will highlight any delays or lower expectations. Shopify is encouraging merchants to offer Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales earlier and incorporate local delivery options as well curbside pickup for brick and mortar merchants.

Etsy (NASDAQ 🙂 is improving its estimates of delivery dates in order to increase sales and decrease uncertainty among its vintage or handmade goods sellers. “Nearly every item from a U.S. seller will include an estimated delivery date this holiday season,” Etsy CEO Josh Silverman said in a blog post.

Walmart and other large retailers are also available. Target (NYSE:), Amazon, Macy’s and Best Buy have not announced their final delivery cutoff dates, but they are promoting options to reduce stress on the system. They’re offering early and extended Black Friday deals and enticing customers to use gig delivery services like DoorDash and Shipt or “buy online, pick up store” options.

Walmart last year announced delivery deadlines mid-December. Amazon, on the other hand, informed customers in November that eligible items were available for shipping two days or one day between Dec. 23rd and December Eve.