5 Online Shopping Tips to Use for the Holidays

Can’t make it to Lancaster County for the holidays? Shop online to get your Kitchen Kettle favorites!

As Kitchen Kettle’s Offsite Sales & Logistics Specialist, I get to see the “other side” of the Christmas shopping world. This means spending time in the months leading up to December assuring we will have enough packages made, enough boxes to ship them, and enough people to put the packages in the boxes and send them on their way. As with all best laid plans, a wrench in the works eventually comes my way and I spend all of late November and early December slightly overwhelmed with work. That leaves me where I am now, just two weeks from Christmas, with almost nothing checked off my own shopping list. I’m sure a few of you are in the same boat, and it probably feels like it is sinking fast. However, thanks to online shopping, there is no need to panic. Here are my best tips to shopping “last-minute” online, without breaking the bank, and while still being able to find great gifts that make it look like you had it all planned out since July…

1. Give them something they love, paired with something new! I know Grandma loves our Strawberry Preserves, but I’ve gotten it for her so many times it feels more like filling an order than a Christmas gift. To make it more interesting, I pair it in a gift with something she hasn’t tried, like our new Strawberry Vanilla Jam.

2. Go for a gift basket. Gift baskets generally include smaller sizes and lots of variety, so there will likely be a few things to WOW the recipient. They will likely find a new favorite item, and you get credit for introducing them to it. Plus they come assembled in a nice presentation, so you won’t be driving around like a madman looking for baskets and fake grass on Christmas Eve. My favorite from Kitchen Kettle is the Snack Variety Basket.

3. Everyone loves food! Now that you’ve waited until so close to the actual date, you can go for food without worrying that it will expire or get stale sitting around until Christmas morning. This is the first year we have offered Pappy’s Kettle Korn on our website and it gives our guests a great fresh food item to order, which they couldn’t have taken home from the village and saved for months. Trust me, it’s so good there is no way anyone will be stringing it on a tree!

4. Look for promotions on the main page of websites as you shop. We advertise any promo codes on our main shopping homepage and also on a banner on the top of every shopping page. Right now we are offering free shipping on orders over $99 (some exclusions apply), which is a considerable discount! Make sure to take advantage of these offers, which usually require nothing more than entering a code in a promo box somewhere on the site (ours is at checkout).

5. As it gets closer to Christmas, pay attention to which sites guarantee delivery before the big day. Kitchen Kettle guarantees delivery to anywhere in the Continental U.S. of any items ordered by December 13^th. After that, we will still be guaranteeing for certain areas up until December 19^th.

Don’t forget the Village is open 9am-9pm on Friday, December 8th, 15th, and 22nd. Regular business hours Monday-Thursday and Saturdays. As always we are closed on Sundays and Christmas Day. Holiday shopping can be stressful, but don’t let it ruin your holiday spirit.  Use our helpful tips to make gift giving easy…and delicious this year!