The after-Christmas window, roughly December 26 through late January, is one of the most underused planning windows for Shopify merchants. Use it to clear unsold Q4 stock before carrying costs compound, and to source next year’s seasonal supplies and client cards at clearance prices.
The holiday does not end on December 25 for the merchants who run lean. It ends when the unsold stock is cleared and next year’s supplies are bought at a fraction of peak price.
The presents have all been unwrapped, the party guests have said their goodbyes, and the dishes are in the sink. Time to put away your Christmas thoughts until next year, right?
It may seem surprising, but the after-Christmas period is a great time to start prepping for next year’s holiday season. Whether you’re buying Christmas cards online or stocking up on wrapping supplies in-store, you can find deals and steals on all sorts of holiday items right as the holiday season comes to a close. Taking advantage of these savings can ease the stress on both your wallet and your time, helping you find more peace and relaxation during next year’s Christmas season.
Nobody wants to dive straight back into shopping after the chaos of the holiday season, but many stores use the after-Christmas period to clear their inventory to make room for next season’s stock. That means holiday-themed items like decorations, lights, wrapping paper, and cards can be found for deep discounts. Plus, you’ll already have your supplies when the holidays come back around, saving you time and letting you focus on enjoying the season.
Here are just a few of the items you should consider picking up while doing your post-holiday shopping:
Wreaths, ornaments, and lighting are often available at a deep discount in the period right after Christmas. Use this opportunity to refresh your essential baubles for the tree or start planning a themed display for next year. Plus, those high-quality ornaments can double as chic or stand-out decorations for your home or office throughout the year.
Paper goods are a great way to use your post-Christmas shopping. Buy things like themed napkins or placemats in bulk, using the discounts to stock up on supplies not just for next year, but for the years ahead. You may be able to find wrapping paper that can double for non-Christmas events like birthdays throughout the year. Plus, this can be a good time to start a stockpile of Christmas cards for those last-minute greetings you might forget in the hubbub of the season.
Gifts can be a major expense during the holiday season, so use this time to take advantage of post-Christmas sales. You may be able to find deep discounts on evergreen toys like LEGO, sports supplies, or board games that can either be saved for next year or used for upcoming birthdays or other holidays. Try to avoid trendy toys or gifts themed to a specific movie or TV show. There’s no guarantee your recipient will still be interested by the time Christmas rolls around again.
Many of these tips may look familiar from your pre-Christmas shopping, but it’s important to be prepared so you stay within your budget and don’t make unnecessary purchases.
Take stock of your finances after the holiday season and create a realistic budget for your post-Christmas shopping. Just because there’s a wide range of products on discount doesn’t mean you need to buy everything. Make a list of must-haves, nice-to-haves, and items you don’t need to make sure you stay within your means.
Shopping on December 26th will give you the widest selection, but waiting even a few days may yield deeper discounts. However, you always run the risk of a smaller selection. Try to figure out the best time to go that helps you find a balance between price and selection (and gives you some time to recover from Christmas dinner).
Many online retailers offer deep discounts in the days after Christmas, making it a convenient way to get all your shopping done in one place while you’re still finishing up the Christmas cookies. However, shopping online may not always have the best price. You may be able to find better discounts at local retailers. Larger stores may even be willing to price-match, meaning you don’t have to wait for shipping.
Taking advantage of post-holiday sales can save you time and simplify your planning for next year. That means you can enjoy Christmas the way it was meant to be enjoyed: with friends and family, rather than the crowds at the mall. Even just one great deal can mean extra relaxation when December rolls around again.
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Clear unsold holiday inventory within the first two weeks of January, while bargain-hunting demand is still high and before the stock ages another quarter on your books. Pull sell-through by SKU, flag anything that moved under roughly 60%, and run a tiered markdown rather than one flat discount: open around 30% off to catch post-holiday spenders, then step to 50% and bundle the stragglers. In Shopify, Stocky helps you identify slow movers and set markdown rules, and a Shopify Flow automation can auto-tag low sell-through seasonal SKUs so your clearance list builds itself. The objective is converting dead stock back into deployable cash, not protecting a margin the calendar has already taken.
Yes, for evergreen seasonal supplies, the after-Christmas clearance is the cheapest sourcing window of the year, but only if you buy to your forecast. Stock up on items whose design does not expire: plain mailers, neutral gift boxes, tissue, branded ribbon in your core colors, and undated holiday packaging. Skip anything trend-locked or dated, since a deep discount on units you will never use is dead stock you paid to acquire. Pull last year’s seasonal usage, add your growth assumption, and buy to that number. The discount is only a saving if the inventory actually moves next season.
Holding unsold inventory typically costs multichannel ecommerce businesses 18% to 30% of the inventory’s value per year, covering capital tied up, storage, insurance, shrinkage, and obsolescence. On $40K of unsold seasonal stock, that is roughly $7,200 to $12,000 over twelve months, before any eventual markdown to clear it. Seasonal product is the worst case because it loses relevance the moment the calendar turns, so the carrying cost compounds on top of a near-certain future discount. That combination is exactly why a fast January clearance beats holding seasonal stock “for next year” in almost every case other than genuinely evergreen items.
Yes, even small Shopify stores benefit from sending physical holiday cards to their best customers, because retention economics favor it and a card cuts through a crowded inbox. The average store sees only a 28.2% repeat purchase rate, yet repeat buyers drive 41% of revenue, so any touchpoint that strengthens loyalty pays back. Keep it targeted: segment your repeat and high-LTV customers in Klaviyo rather than mailing everyone, and buy the cards in the post-Christmas clearance to keep the cost trivial. For a store doing $50K a month, 150 cards to top customers is a small spend with an outsized relationship signal.
Avoid buying any dated, trend-locked, or themed holiday stock on clearance, no matter how deep the discount. That means packaging printed with a specific year or campaign, decor tied to a current fad that may fade by next Q4, and volume buys of SKUs that depend on a movie, show, or moment staying relevant. These carry real obsolescence risk and often become write-offs. Stick to evergreen supplies whose usefulness does not expire, and stage even those purchases against your actual demand forecast. A 70% markdown on inventory you cannot use next season is not a saving; it is next year’s carrying-cost problem bought in advance.
