Manifest is committed to providing an excellent holiday shipping experience for our merchants and their customers.

This guide covers important information about fulfillment during the busy "peak" holiday shipping season between November and December of 2025.

Included in the guide below are a number of important topics:

• Holiday "grace period" SLA extension

• Peak surcharges

• Outbound domestic order fulfillment & shipping cutoffs and turnaround times

• Outbound B2B and FBA prep order impact

• Value-added service (VAS) cutoff date

• Inbound receiving cutoffs and turnaround times

• Returns processing

• CX resources

• Helpful guides related to managing inventory, backorders, and orders on Hold

• Manifest's peak holiday season schedule

• Fulfillment center visits

Holiday "grace period" SLA extensions

Outbound Order Processing (D2C & B2B)

Manifest will extend all service level agreements (SLAs) by 2 business days between Monday, November 16, 2026 and Friday, January 8, 2027.

Example:

For an order that imports on Monday, November 30 at 1:47 pm CST, we will generate a label for that order by end of day Thursday, December 3.

Inbound PO Processing

Manifest will extend all service level agreements (SLAs) by 2 business days between Monday, November 2, 2026 and Friday, January 8, 2027.

Example:

For a fully compliant PO that arrives on Monday, November 2 at 11:47 am CST, we will completely check in that inventory by end of day, Monday, November 9.

Important Note

• If volume levels spike considerably above those forecasted and we are unable to meet this extended SLA, Manifest will proactively contact you with the details of expected completion times to process these additional orders.

Peak surcharges

Carriers routinely impose peak/demand surcharges, or temporary rate adjustments, during the periods of increased demand. The 2026 holiday season is no different. Manifest will directly pass through all peak surcharges to our merchants within regular monthly invoicing.

Outbound (D2C) domestic order fulfillment & shipping cutoffs and turnaround times

The below table provides a cutoff date by which orders to the lower 48 United States must be imported into our system (pre-noon CST) and designated Ready to Ship to have a high probability of delivery by Christmas. Please note that these cutoff dates are guidance, not guarantees, as Manifest's best estimates based on our own SLAs and the carriers' posted cutoff dates for expected, but not guaranteed, delivery by Christmas.

The last column notes the verification status: rows marked Verified have explicit postings regarding cutoff dates by the carrier; those marked Estimated do not have explicit postings and are our best estimate based on historicals and comparable service levels.

Updating Shipping Options

Manifest strongly recommends that you have multiple shipping options, including some faster carriers and services, available to your customers for the holidays. This can help with cart conversion as well as ensure your customers have options for delivery by Christmas for as long as possible (e.g. using FedEx Overnight to allow for delivery for orders imported up until 12 pm CST on December 21, as noted above).

To update your shipping options to align with cutoffs:

1. Follow the guidance here to change your Shipment Method mapping in ShipHero

   1. Utilize this table to select your desired Shipment Methods:

      1. Carrier = Cheapest

      2. Method = Peak 2026 _____ based on the dates as in the table linked above

Example: after the 12 pm CT cutoff for the December 9 carriers/services, you want to switch all of your Economy shipping from your store to the December 11 shipment methods:

2. NOTE: changing ship methods is for orders going forward after changes are made; you’ll have to manually edit shipment methods for orders already in the system

2. If you would like to set up custom holiday shipment methods, please contact your account manager

Important Details

• For “rate shopped” shipping options in your cart where each individual order is selecting the lowest cost option from available carriers and services, our recommendation is to use the earliest cutoff date of the available options per the below table as your cutoff date. 

  • Example: if your “Standard” shipping option rate-shops between DHL SmartMail Parcel Ground, USPS Ground Advantage, FedEx Ground Economy, and FedEx Home Delivery, your earliest cutoff would be DHL SmartMail Parcel Ground and that would serve as the recommended cutoff for your “Standard” shipping option.

• The above table applies to the lower 48 contiguous states for domestic shipping only; Alaska and Hawaii (and US territories) may have earlier cutoffs depending on the service rate shopped and selected

• The additional two business day grace period SLA extension as noted earlier in this guide has been factored into the Cutoff dates in the table above.

Outbound B2B and FBA prep order impact

As noted earlier in this guide, all SLAs will be extended by a grace period of two business days, including B2B and FBA prep orders.

Value-added services (VAS) cutoff date

Friday, November 13 is the last day to submit VAS orders like pre-kitting for processing in 2026. 

Inbound receiving cutoffs and turnaround times

In order to successfully hit the outbound fulfillment and shipping cutoffs and turnaround times as above, inventory must be fully stocked and available for order fulfillment at time of order import.

The below table notes the cutoff days for compliant POs to arrive by, pre-noon CST, in order for that inventory to be available in time for outbound order shipping cutoffs as referenced above.

Important Notes

• The above table only applies to compliant POs

  • Non-compliant ASNs will be subject to additional processing time

• OpenDock appointments are required for all inbound PO deliveries

• The additional two business day grace period SLA extension as noted earlier in this guide has been factored into the Cutoff dates in the table above

Returns processing

Manifest will continue processing returns throughout Peak 2026. Please note that on occasion, we may allocate labor traditionally used for returns to instead help with outbound or inbound processing on a short-term basis.

CX resources

We have created this guide that’s tailor-made to help your CX team navigate common inquiries from your customers with ease!

Finally, Manifest has built a customer portal which makes it incredibly easy to:

• Utilize an AI chatbot to quickly return helpful answers to your questions

• Submit tickets to your account manager

• With one click, file Carrier Claims or Mis-Shipments

• View and reply to the tickets you and your team have submitted in one place, away from email inboxes

• Access all of Manifest’s knowledge base articles

Please contact your account manager if you need access to the customer portal!

Helpful guides related to managing inventory, backorders, and orders on Hold

Inventory Management

We know that maintaining sufficient inventory levels is critical as your sales volume increases for peak season. See the below guides articles to help effectively manage your stock!

• How to view inventory levels can be found here

• How to use low stock/safety stock levels, reorder levels, and email notifications

Backorders & Orders On Hold

We also recognize how critical it is to deliver an excellent customer experience to your consumers and to ensure their orders ship in time for gift delivery. See the below guides to help manage backorders.

• How to check for backorders

• How to manage Orders on Hold 

Manifest's peak holiday season schedule

Manifest will be closed entirely or running on limited shifts on the following days to observe the holidays. This pertains to both our warehouse and our merchant experience staff. The full article can be found here.

• Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 26, 2026 - Closed

• Christmas Eve: Thursday, December 24, 2026 - Early Closure

• Christmas Day: Friday, December 25, 2026 - Closed

• New Year's Eve: Thursday, December 31, 2026 - Early Closure

• New Year's Day: Friday, January 1, 2027 - Closed

Fulfillment center visits

Manifest is suspending fulfillment center visits for the months of November and December for peak holiday shipping season.

Visits will resume again beginning January 2, 2027 subject to written confirmation by your account manager and at least 3 business days between a submission of a visit request and the proposed time slot(s).