"Many customers that have previously ordered their business Christmas gifts in mid-December have ordered as early as September this year to take advantage of free ground shipping offers that can end up saving a substantial amount for those that are on budgets, especially for larger corporate orders,” states David McNaught, Marketing Director for The Gift Basket Pros, a company that supplies holiday gift baskets. “Numerous companies have also indicated they are more interested in hand delivering the Christmas gift baskets themselves this year to add a more personal touch and to enhance their business to business relationship, at least for those clients that happen to be local.”

Additional reasons given for placing their orders early include: 1) a desire to avoid out-of-stock issues that occur later in the shopping season, 2) looking to avoid the bad weather delays that occur with shipping late in the season when snow can be very heavy and carrier trucks unable to get reach their destinations before Christmas, and 3) trying to get their gifts delivered as early as the first week of December so everyone can enjoy their gifts before employees and clients leave for vacation.

The poll was conducted internally by corporate gift services department at TGBP, for more information on how this survey was conducted contact David McNaught at 866.690.8427 ext 104. Information on the company’s line of Christmas baskets and holiday gift baskets can be found at www.pro-gift-baskets.com.

Customers need to get their orders in as quick as possible to avoid UPS and FedEx seasonal difficulties, adds McNaught.

“The week prior to Christmas is the heaviest shipping week of the year and quite a large number of customers are looking to avoid the headaches of ordering their gifts so late in the season,” he says. “We are advising customers that orders shipping Ground after Monday, December 17 have a higher chance of not being delivered due to the extreme volume of packages that carriers are transporting this time of year."

About The Gift Basket Pros:
The Gift Basket Pros (TGBP) has quickly grown into the online leader for quality appreciation gift products, first establishing its presence online in 2004 in response to a drastic increase in the demand of high quality gifts and gift baskets needed for business-to-business giving or as personal gifts. The company prides itself in superior customer service and has a vast selection of gifts for any budget. It offers a wide assortment of holiday gift baskets, corporate gift baskets and Christmas gift baskets, as well as baskets for other occasions. Some of its current customers include high profile Fortune 500 companies such as PepsiCo, Prudential, Microsoft, AT&T, AFLAC, Bank of America and Merrill Lynch.