CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — The first post-lockdown holiday season is going to be challenging for a number of reasons, but especially so when it comes time to ship your holiday packages.

Danny Scott, franchise owner of a UPS Store in Chicago, told “Morning in America’s” Nick Smith that, “Many times, people don’t get in here early enough to ship their packages to have their peace of mind that everything will get there on time. They’ll be coming in right before Christmas trying to get it just under the gun.”

This year, 91% of shoppers surveyed said they plan to have all of their holiday shopping finished the week before Christmas, and 1 in 4 actually said they’ll be finished before the holiday season starts. That’s up from 2020, when only 17% of shoppers said they planned to finish before Black Friday.

Word of pandemic-related slowdowns in shipping and shortages on store shelves has gift buyers shopping and shipping earlier than usual.

Santa, of course, has no labor shortage and is reporting no planned delays in his usual Christmas Eve deliveries.