Instaproofs - Blog

Are you going out of your mind trying to fulfill your last-minute print orders and squeeeeeeeeze in that one last photo shoot?! If so, you are not alone! This upcoming week is one of the highest-volume ordering weeks of the entire year, and trying to keep your orders flowing (and your clients happy!) can be exhausting.

Luckily, we're here to help. :) Below are a few tips for making it through all of the Christmas craziness with as little stress as possible:

Christmas & Holiday Suggestions

• Put on additional sales to encourage additional orders. There are quite a few people still on the fence about what to purchase for their loved ones; give them a reason to select prints as their gift! Don't let your Black Friday sale be the last one of the season, but instead run new sales every couple of days right up until your final ordering deadline. The more often your clients are reminded of the images, the more likely they are to make a purchase.
• Be realistic with your order deadlines. Give yourself some wiggle room! Allowing your clients to submit their holiday orders until the very last minute can cause you some serious headaches. Put a hard date in place for your orders and let your clients know that anything ordered after that date should not be expected before Christmas.
• Plaster your cutoff dates everywhere! Put a note up on your storefront, facebook page, blog, and anywhere else that your clients may visit, to let them know when your Christmas ordering deadlines are. On your Instaproofs storefront the note can be added to the event login page, the event descriptions, promotional emails, your order receipts, or in any combination of these different areas.
• Create a “Christmas” shipping option. In addition to your standard shipping options, create a new option labeled “Christmas Delivery” or “Delivery by Christmas.” As Christmas grows closer you can increase the cost of this option to help cover the priority shipping fees that may be incurred in the filling of these orders.
• Quickly fulfill your orders! If you choose to ignore all of our other suggestions, follow this one. Quickly fulfilling your orders is always very important, but during this time of year it is even more so. Don't wait until the last possible moment to fulfill your orders, but instead fulfill them as soon as you receive them.
• Keep your customers in the loop. No one likes not knowing when and order is going to arrive, so email your customers each time you change the status of their orders. Keeping your clients well-informed will go a long way in easing their minds, and it may even save you from receiving panicked/frantic calls demanding to know where specific orders are!
• Manage “after Christmas” expectations. After your Christmas order deadline has passed, go through your site and change your notes (from our second suggestion) to let your visitors know that it's now too late to expect their orders before Christmas. Also remove the new “Christmas Delivery” shipping option that you created from our third suggestion.
• If you are self-fulfilling your orders, always opt for package tracking. This might cost you a little extra up-front, but the hassles it will save you if problems arise will more than make up for it! Once you receive the tracking number for a package, be sure to pass it along to your customer as well.
• Our integrated fulfillment (and auto-fulfillment) options can make your life easier! If you are a photographer based in the US and don't want to bother with hunting down your ordered images and re-uploading them to another service, consider using our integrated fulfillment services. Standard print orders are shipped the next business day, and all orders automatically receive tracking numbers when they are shipped. Our holiday fulfillment deadlines can be found here: Fulfillment Deadlines.