Loading up Santa’s sleigh: here are our pre-Christmas order deadlines
11.12.2023
Translation: Katherine Martin
Even for those with a creative knack for last-minute Christmas shopping, things could get tight this year. If you’re the type of person who only thinks of gift ideas at the 11th hour, here are our Christmas order deadlines and collection options.
Let’s cover the most important stuff first. Anything you order by 5 p.m. on Thursday, 21 December that’s marked as «in our central warehouse» will generally get to you by 24 December.
We and our logistics partners need an extra day for orders involving wine. So if this is what you’re after, your order deadline is 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 20 December.
When it comes to the heavy stuff – what our Logistics Team calls general cargo – orders must be placed by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, 19 December. This is because products such as beds, sofas, cupboards or saunas need to be ordered in advance so that the supplier can agree a delivery time with you. That being said, does anyone actually buy sofas or saunas as Christmas gifts?
Which products are «in our central warehouse»?
There are two ways to find products we have in stock at our own warehouses. Working alongside our logistics partners, including Planzer and Swiss Post, we’re very confident we can get these products to you on time.
- The first way is to use the filter function. Just select «Offers», then «Products in stock». This’ll display all the relevant products.
- Alternatively, you can keep an eye out for the sleigh icon. From 11 December, you’ll see this symbol on products guaranteed to be delivered by Christmas. The same goes for the other way round: no sleigh, no guaranteed delivery. This’ll be especially important from 21 December onwards – the symbols will be gone then, and only the typical delivery time displayed. While a product may be marked with «delivery tomorrow», the high volume of parcels means your order could actually get stuck in the warehouse until after Christmas, should something go awry.
What happens if you order after 5 p.m. on 21 December?
You can, of course, still keep placing orders after 5 p.m. on Thursday, 21 December – or even on Friday, 22 December. These orders will typically also make it to you by Christmas Eve. «But we can’t guarantee that in good conscience, because then it’s not solely in our hands,» says Peter Weingartner, Leader First & Last Mile in Supply Chain Management.
How to collect your order in store
If you’re running really late, you can shorten the processing time of your order by opting for collection at one of our Digitec Galaxus stores. Here’s an overview of our store locations. Here are the order deadlines for collection on Saturday, 23 December:
- Lausanne: 4:45 a.m.
- Geneva: 4:45 a.m.
- Bern: 5:30 a.m.
- Zurich: 12:15 a.m.
- Winterthur: 6:30 a.m.
- St. Gallen: 6:30 a.m.
- Basel: 6:45 a.m.
- Kriens: 8:15 a.m.
- Dietikon: 5:45 a.m.
- Wohlen: 2 p.m.
These times apply to in-stock products weighing less than 30 kilogrammes. Please also note the opening hours of our stores on Saturday 23 December, as well as on the subsequent bank holidays.
Our opening hours during the Christmas holidays
- Saturday, 23 December: Kriens and Winterthur open until 4 p.m., all other stores open until 5 p.m.
- Sunday, 24 December (Christmas Eve): closed
- Monday, 25 December (Christmas Day): closed
- Tuesday, 26 December (Boxing Day): Lausanne and Geneva open
- Wednesday, 27 to Saturday, 30 December: standard opening hours
- Sunday, 31 December (New Year’s Eve): closed
- Monday, 1 January (New Year’s Day): closed
- Tuesday, 2 January (Berchtold Day): stores open in Zurich, Wohlen, Winterthur, St. Gallen, Kriens, Geneva, Dietikon and Basel
For the eleventh hour: gift vouchers
Have you missed all the deadlines? Are you at your wit’s end, having lost all trust in everyone and everything? Worry not – we have your saving grace: digital vouchers for Galaxus and Digitec! You’ll even be able to gift this digital ticket to retail therapy by text message. All you need to do is forward the voucher code. Or you can invest a little more time and affection, print out the voucher and put it in an envelope you’ve decorated yourself. That probably looks a bit more impressive. You can select the value of the voucher: anything from 10 to 500 francs is possible.
Don’t want to buy a dud? Get your head around the topic of gift vouchers first by reading my interview with a gift voucher.
If you do go for a gift voucher, and are in need of inspiration on how to spruce it up, you’ll definitely find a few good tips in this article.
Please note: this article is an updated version of information we released in December 2022. As a result, Community comments may refer to the previous version of the article.
Header image: Christian Walker / Digitec Galaxus
Martin Jungfer
Head of Content
Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.chJournalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment.
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