Holiday Sample Calendar: When to Open and Close Offers

Holiday traffic is uneven. Sample demand spikes before gifting weekends and big sale days, then drops hard when you leave every offer open forever. A simple calendar — when to open sample offers, when to tighten them, and when to close them — protects margin and keeps samples feeling special.

This guide is a planning calendar for Shopify merchants who already offer samples (or are about to). Product Samples by Luke handles ordering, pricing, and which products get a sample button. The calendar is your job: decide the windows, then flip the matching settings.

Why a holiday sample calendar beats “always on”

Leaving every SKU open for free samples all season sounds generous. In practice it burns inventory on low-intent orders and trains shoppers to never buy full size until January. A calendar does three jobs:

• Open early on hero products so new shoppers can try before peak week.
• Throttle when labor and shipping get expensive (sample shipping still costs you).
• Close or narrow after the gifting peak so full-size checkout stays the default.

You do not need fancy forecasting. Pick dates on a one-page calendar and stick to them.

Suggested windows (adapt to your peak)

Use your own peak week. Many gift-heavy stores roughly follow:

1. Early season (about 6–4 weeks out): Open samples on new and high-consideration products. Goal: learn which finishes/sizes people actually request.
2. Mid season (about 4–2 weeks out): Keep samples on hero SKUs. Cap free samples or add a small sample price if margin is thin. Push full-size price next to the sample offer.
3. Peak week (BFCM / major gift weekend): Narrow to selected products only. Prefer paid or limited samples so checkout stays focused on full-size cart value.
4. Post-peak (the week after): Close holiday-only sample offers. Leave evergreen samples only on products where try-before-you-buy still pays for itself.

Write the four date ranges on a sticky note next to your admin. When the date hits, change settings the same morning — don’t wait for inventory to run dry.

How to open and close offers in Product Samples

Match each calendar move to a concrete setting (then Save Settings, and confirm the storefront in a private window):

• Offer samples only on the products in this window: Settings → choose Offer Samples to some products only, pick those products, Save. Storefront: Get a Sample appears only on that set.
• Keep samples out of the regular cart during peak: use the default Display samples in separated sample box so sample checkout stays its own draft-order flow and doesn’t mix with full-size Black Friday carts.
• Pause samples storewide for a day: Visibility → hide the app on the live theme (or turn off the Product Samples app embed), Save. Get a Sample disappears until you turn it back on.
• Tighten free samples: set a sample price or shipping rule that fits your margin (see your pricing/shipping help articles). Calendar change first; price tweak second.

Not sure which SKUs deserve a sample button at all? Start with which products should offer samples. For follow-up after a sample ships, use the 3-touch follow-up plan.

What shoppers should see in each window

• Open window: Get a Sample on the product page, clear sample vs full-size labeling, and a sample box (if you use the separated box) that only holds samples.
• Peak / narrowed window: Get a Sample only on the selected hero set. Other products show Buy / Add to cart only.
• Closed window: No sample button on holiday SKUs. Full-size purchase path is uninterrupted.

One-page checklist for this week

1. Mark open / throttle / peak / close dates on a calendar.
2. List the SKUs allowed in each window (keep it short).
3. On each date: update “some products only” (or visibility), Save Settings, check one product page in a private window.
4. After close: point returning sample shoppers at full size with your follow-up plan — not another free sample.

Product Samples by Luke is $12/month with a 7-day free trial on the Shopify App Store. The app runs the sample order path; the holiday calendar is how you stay in control of when that path is open.