2025 Holiday Season Direct Mail Delivery Scheduling

Direct mail isn’t just surviving the holiday rush—it’s thriving. But here’s what most marketers get wrong: they’re still planning for a postal system that hasn’t existed in years.

The reality? USPS has invested nearly $20 billion in modernization over the past four years, transforming how they handle peak season volume. Meanwhile, savvy marketers are leveraging platforms like Postalytics to turn what used to be a weeks-long logistical nightmare into campaigns launched in 30 minutes.

This guide shows you exactly when to send, what to expect, and how to maximize your holiday campaign results while everyone else is still figuring out their print vendor schedule.

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2024/2025 USPS Holiday Season Direct Mail Days Off

In addition to a massive spike in the mail and package delivery volume, there are also several days that the USPS is completely closed for business. 

As we head into 2025, here’s a list of key dates to consider for your holiday season direct mail delivery planning:

Date	Holiday
Tuesday 11/11/25	Veterans Day
Thursday 11/27/25	Thanksgiving Day
Thursday 12/25/25	Christmas Day Observed
Thursday 1/1/26	New Year’s Day Observed
Monday 1/19/26	Martin Luther King Jr. birthday
Monday 2/16/26	President’s Day
Monday 5/25/26	Memorial Day
Friday 6/19/26	Juneteenth National Independence Day
Saturday 7/4/26	Independence Day
Monday 9/7/26	Labor Day
Monday 10/12/26	Columbus/Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Wednesday 11/11/26	Veterans Day
Thursday 11/26/26	Thanksgiving Day
Friday 12/25/26	Christmas Day

With strategic planning, you can work around these closures and maintain consistent delivery performance throughout the season.

How USPS Modernization Changes the Game for 2025

Here’s what most marketers don’t realize: the USPS you’re planning for isn’t the same postal service from even two years ago. The organization has undergone massive transformation, and it directly impacts your holiday campaigns.

What’s Changed at USPS

Package Processing Capacity Increased 47% Daily processing capacity jumped from 60 million to 88 million packages. USPS added 614 state-of-the-art sorting machines over five years that handle more—and larger—packages with automated scanning for full tracking visibility.

Workforce Stability Improved Dramatically USPS converted nearly 232,000 precareer employees to full-time positions since 2020, creating unprecedented workforce stability. This year, they’re hiring just 14,000 seasonal workers, down from 40,000 a few years ago. Translation? More experienced workers handling your mail during peak season.

Turnaround Service Expanded Updated service standards allow faster regional processing and delivery. Holiday greetings and time-sensitive offers now move more quickly and reliably within the same region.

Infrastructure Explosion Over four years, USPS opened:

• 9 regional processing and distribution centers
• 19 regional transfer hubs
• 17 local processing centers
• 133 sorting and delivery centers

This isn’t incremental improvement—it’s a complete network overhaul designed for modern mailing and shipping demands.

Fleet Modernization in Progress USPS received nearly 29,000 new vehicles this year, with over 24,000 already on delivery routes. Overall, 106,480 new vehicles are expected, including 66,000 zero-emission electric vehicles.

Strategic Planning Enhanced A new chief performance officer position and dedicated team now identify ways to work more effectively, matching customer needs with solutions in targeted markets.

What This Means for Your Campaigns

The postal system is more reliable than it’s been in years. But that doesn’t mean you can ignore planning—it means your planning should be smarter, not just earlier.

With platforms like Postalytics, you can leverage this improved infrastructure while eliminating the traditional weeks-long campaign setup. The postal system is ready. Your marketing platform should be too.

Give Yourself A Buffer — Add Time To Your Schedule

Despite improvements, the laws of physics still apply: more volume means more processing time. And while equipment failures are less common, they still happen—especially with standard class mail.

Last year, most first-class customers saw delivery within expected timeframes. However, some standard-class mailers were stuck at USPS distribution facilities for several weeks.

The good news? Many factors that caused severe delays in past years are less significant now. Pandemic disruptions and supply chain chaos have stabilized. USPS’s “Delivering for America” investments are paying dividends.

Still, we recommend adding buffer days to your planning. When dealing with factors outside your control, it’s better to arrive early than miss your window entirely.

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Understanding Mail Class Differences

This is critical: USPS treats mail classes very differently. Standard mail can be significantly impacted by holidays, while first-class mail tends to be less affected. During peak season, we see more customers choosing first-class than normal—because timing matters more than saving a few cents per piece.

To ensure delivery before 12/25/25:

• Postalytics Recommends Sending First Class Campaigns No Later Than December 11th
• Postalytics Recommends Sending Standard and Nonprofit Class Campaigns No Later Than November 30th

See “When To Use First Class vs. Standard Mail”

As a rule of thumb, plan roughly 3 weeks for standard class mail and 2 weeks for first-class mail campaigns for the bulk of the mail to be delivered. You’ll probably find that there will be an increase in variability of mail delivery dates due to local USPS issues in various locations around the country.

Mail Delivery Thanksgiving Week

USPS is closed Thursday, November 27th for Thanksgiving. But yes, they’re back at work on Black Friday.

USPS plans to run both ground and air services during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday. But here’s the catch: mail volume skyrockets during these days. Higher volume means higher processing times, even with improved infrastructure.

If you’re targeting these shopping days, send your campaign at least 10 days earlier to stay ahead of delays and ensure campaign success.

What Impacts Holiday Season Direct Mail Delivery?

Several factors converge to stress even a modernized postal system. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, USPS will deliver approximately 15 billion pieces of mail and about 800 million packages.

With proper planning, you can navigate these challenges while encouraging customers to engage with timely, effective direct mail.

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Greeting Cards

Holiday greeting cards remain incredibly popular despite declining personal correspondence. About 1.5 billion holiday greeting cards are sold annually—roughly 60% of all cards sold. Most hit the mail hoping to arrive before Christmas, creating a massive first-class volume spike.

Catalogers

The biggest retail season of the year drives intense catalog activity. Most catalogers aim to have their books delivered the week after Thanksgiving for the final holiday push, making strategic timing essential for your campaigns.

Parcels

E-commerce growth continues accelerating package delivery demands. Forecasts predict e-commerce sales will grow between 7-9% year-over-year during the 2025-2026 holiday season. Starting the week of December 10th, USPS expects to deliver 200 million packages per week through Christmas. Then returns kick in immediately after.

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First Class Direct Mail Holiday Season Planning

The USPS prioritizes first-class direct mail, and the holiday season’s spike in volume accentuates the delivery differences between first- and standard-class mail. For this reason, we recommend using the Postalytics First Class option for direct mail during the holiday season.

While the USPS will do its best to deliver first-class mail within the standard timeline, slowdowns inevitably occur. The week of December 18th-23rd, 2024, will be incredibly busy for first-class mail due to those holiday greeting cards, with the expectation that 3 billion pieces of first-class mail will be delivered.

Postalytics recommends First Class Mailing no later than December 11th for delivery before Christmas.

Standard/Nonprofit Postage Direct Mail Holiday Season Planning

The USPS handles Standard & Nonprofit Class mail after First Class and Parcel deliveries. It is more likely to be delayed when regional or local surges happen and when there are equipment problems anywhere in the supply chain. As the USPS prepares for the massive spike in First Class and Parcel delivery, holiday season direct mail sent via standard class suffers, making it essential to plan your marketing campaign accordingly.

Postalytics recommends Standard Class Mailing no later than November 30th for delivery before Christmas.

Standard Class mail caught in the holiday season surge can be delivered in a close to normal time frame, but it can also be significantly delayed. In 2023, we did have a few customers with standard mail sent in mid-December that ended up delivered in mid-January. We recommend getting out ahead of other mailers—do not wait!

Creating Engaging Holiday Content

Now that you know when to send your direct mail, it’s important to make sure you send direct mail that makes an impact. 

Here’s a simple guide to creating engaging holiday content for your direct mail campaign. Follow these steps to make sure your holiday mail grabs attention and connects with your audience:

1. Make it look great: Use high-quality images and bold headlines that immediately catch the eye, and keep your design clean and organized so it’s easy to read. You can also use a range of professionally designed, easy-to-use templates that can be edited directly in Postalytics. 
2. Speak in a friendly tone: Reflect the joy of the holiday season, keeping your message warm and approachable. Rather than being too pushy with your sales message, focus more on connecting with the reader, making the message feel like a conversation that is authentic and welcoming.
3. Add a clear call-to-action (CTA): Guide readers on what to do next; for instance, phrases like “Visit Our Website,” “Shop Now,” or “Find a Store Near You” work well. Ensure your CTA stands out visually so readers can easily spot it.
4. Choose the right format: Use postcards, greeting cards, or self-mailers (folded mailers that don’t require an envelope) to give your direct mail a unique look. Select a format that makes your message easy to read and highlights your brand’s style effectively.
5. Reflect the holiday spirit: Use festive language and images that capture the essence of the season. Make your mail feel like a celebration so that readers experience holiday joy the moment they open it.

Holiday Season Direct Mail Questions?

The postal system is more capable than ever. The infrastructure is in place. The question is: can your marketing platform keep up?

If you’d like to speak with one of our experts about your holiday season direct mail delivery strategy, we’d love to hear from you. Because direct mail shouldn’t take weeks to plan—it should take 30 minutes.

Let’s make this your most successful holiday season yet.