In recent years, consumers have been very worried when it comes to ordering around public and national holidays. Although companies might not completely shut down during this period, they usually have a skeleton crew which impacts production. Orders might not be prepared on time due to the high volume of ordered items. At the same time, freight forwarding companies also face a delay. Overall this also impacts our delivery timeframes. Find out how you can avoid this when ordering with us around the Chinese New Year season.
When is the Chinese New Year?
The Chinese New Year is one of the trickiest holidays because it does not have a set date but ranges within a set timeframe. The main idea of this holiday is for it to coincide with the welcoming of spring to celebrate and start the harvesting season on a good note.
However, when using the standard Gregorian calendar, it might be very hard to pinpoint the exact date. The general timeframe you should expect for the annual commemoration of the Chinese New Year is between January 21 to February 20. Each year the date shifts a little. Therefore, you need to do some prior research to find out when it falls each year.
Calculating the exact date
Trying to find out the precise date of the Chinese New Year according to the Gregorian calendar can be a little bit challenging. This is because you need to compare the Lunar calendar and the Gregorian to see when the days coincide. On the Lunar calendar, it is always set to be on January 1.
Due to the fact that the Lunar calendar is not perfectly aligned with the Gregorian, it takes some doing to find the exact date. Fortunately, you do not have to do all the research to find out when Chinese New Year 2022 and beyond will be. You can just easily Google and the date for each year will pop up on your search results.
How long does it take?
The Chinese New Year traditions have been deeply ingrained in the culture for years. One of those traditions is the total number of days it takes for this holiday to be over. It is one of the longest holidays and that is why it needs to be considered when ordering items or smell proof bags from us. Although some companies might not shut down operations for the entire duration, others might want to observe this long-standing tradition.
As a result, our work is also impacted. With that in mind, just be prepared to expect delays for 10 to 15 days since this holiday takes a total of 15 days. Therefore, when ordering directly before this holiday starts, add the freight forwarding lead time to 15 days.
Check the lead time for your area
Depending on where you are in the world, the lead times when ordering from Green Rush Packaging varies. If you are placing a domestic order, the shipment usually takes far less than when shipping across the border. The lead time for cross-border shipment takes more time since it still needs to be processed and inspected.
As a result, it takes on average about 5-12 days to ship items out of the border to their destination country. You can confirm the lead times for domestic and cross-border shipments online and determine when is the best time to order. Chinese New Year might not significantly impact domestic orders as much as it affects cross-border shipments.
Do custom packaging order lead times differ?
Customizing the packaging is relatively a simple and straightforward process without much involved in it. Therefore, customizing packaging does not impact lead times,, especially if it is not customizations that alter the design of the packaging. If it is the standard logo and some print on the packaging, it should not take much time.
However, if the order has a very high volume, it might slightly impact the delivery time, but you will be updated on it if there is such a delay. The difference should not be much, though, if it is the standard customization options since they are already calculated in the lead times on the website.
Order well in advance
The key trick to avoiding any delays you might face around the time of Chinese New Year is just ordering well in advance. Since around that time there are also other holidays going on, experiencing delays is inevitable. There is no better way to avoid all these delays apart from ordering when there is still plenty of time to consistently service your customers.
You can place an order right before Christmas on the Gregorian calendar to avoid experiencing long delays caused by regular holidays and Chinese New Year. Ordering in bulk ensures that you have a surplus of packaging material and this is beneficial, especially since it is an item that doesn’t expire.
Join in on the festivities
To get some sales during the Chinese New Year period, consider joining in on the festivities by having some discounts and promotional offers. You can boost some sales in January and February, depending on how long you’ll set the promotions to run for.
Advertising the promotion to your community, either virtual or practical, can help boost those sales margins. By the time the promotion ends, you would have made a good profit due to joining in on the festivities of Chinese New Year. Having enough packaging material is key to meeting the sales objectives, so make sure you order enough.
Closing thoughts
Chinese New Year does not fall on the same day on the Gregorian calendar each year which might make it hard to find out when to order. Fortunately, you can use online resources to find out when it is for the next couple of years. From then on, you can then plan around those dates to avoid facing delays on your packaging orders. Alternatively, ordering well in advance the previous year is also the best way to do it.
