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Christmas is fast approaching, and the first night of Hanukkah is four days before that. Can you possibly finish your holiday shopping in time? The stores are overcrowded, the mall parking lots are full, and the weather is lousy. You could try buying gifts over the Web, but can you trust online retailers to deliver on time this close to the holidays? Maybe you can.

Internet retailers are doing everything they can to get your last-minute holiday business. They're giving you timetables to let you know when you must place an order for it to arrive on time, and some are even guaranteeing the accuracy of those tables. They're offering tools to help you select the right gift. And they're delivering gift certificates at the speed of e-mail.

Virtually every online retailer has posted holiday deadlines--order by such and such a date and the package will arrive by Christmas. But the longer you wait, the more on-time delivery will cost. On many sites, it's already too late to expect timely delivery if you opt for their cheapest shipping method.

For instance, Amazon.com has an extensive timetable explaining what you can get away with on what day. December 14 was the "last day to order items that say 'Usually ships in 24 hours' using Standard Shipping," but you have until the 19th if you use 2nd Day Air.

Some Deliveries Guaranteed

Some Internet retailers, such as Nordstrom, actually guarantee that if you make your deadline, they'll make theirs. But can anyone be absolutely positive that anything will arrive on time? Even the best mail-order company makes mistakes, as do FedEx and UPS. Nevertheless, Nordstrom spokesperson Shasha Richardson sounds confident.

"We've been doing this for seven years. Last year we didn't disappoint any of our customers," she says. Should a holiday package arrive late, Nordstrom promises to make amends. "We'd let the customer tell us what they'd like us to do," Richardson says.

Procrastinators may want to pick the store with the latest deadline and best guarantee. You can do this on Yahoo's Last Minute Shopping page, which highlights 12 stores (presumably those that paid Yahoo for the privilege), with deadline and guarantee information for each. There's also a longer list of stores that didn't pay enough for major onscreen real estate. Each store reference links to the store's holiday deadline policy.

Of course, real procrastinators don't need a deadline; they need a cool way to apologize. For those, Coach has a free service called Coach E-Gift that you can order with a purchase. Coach will send an e-mail to your loved one, offering a Web link to a personalized message and a photo of the forthcoming gift. Basically, this is a 21st century way of saying "Sorry, but my gift will be late."

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