A Guide to Google's Special Hours for Christmas & Late Night Shopping
It’s the night of the big local Christmas light switch-on. Your shop is glowing, the mince pies are out, and you’re open late until 9 PM to welcome the crowds.
But on Google Maps, your business is marked in bright red: "Closed."
While you are waiting for customers to walk through the door, dozens of people have checked their phones, seen you’re "closed," and walked straight to a competitor who kept their profile updated.
This is a classic festive fail. During the chaotic holiday season - with late-night shopping events, Boxing Day sales, and irregular New Year’s opening times - managing your Google Business Profile is critical. But there is a right way and a very wrong way to do it.
Here is your guide to using Google’s "Special Hours" feature to ensure you capture every bit of festive footfall.
The Golden Rule: Never Change Your "Regular" Hours
This is the most common mistake we see. A business owner logs in and changes their standard Friday opening hours to 9 PM for a one-off event.
Why this is dangerous:
You’ll Forget to Change It Back: Come January, Google will still think you’re open late every single Friday. This leads to angry customers turning up to a locked door.
It Looks Like a Default: It doesn't highlight to the customer that something special is happening.
The Solution: Use the dedicated "Special Hours" section. This allows you to set specific hours for specific calendar dates (like Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, or a local late-night shopping date). Once that date passes, your profile automatically reverts to your normal hours.
How to Set Special Hours (Step-by-Step)
It takes less than two minutes to save yourself from missed sales.
Go to your Google Business Profile (search "my business" on Google while logged in).
Click Edit Profile > Business Information.
Select the Hours tab.
Click on Special hours (not main hours!).
Click "Add a date" and select the specific day (e.g. 24th December).
Enter your open and close times for that day (or tick "Closed").
Click Save.
Pro Tip: Google often prompts you to confirm your hours for major public holidays. Even if your hours aren't changing, log in and confirm them. This adds a green "Hours confirmed by business" label to your profile, giving customers total confidence.
Why This Matters for Your Local SEO
Google uses a ranking signal called "Openness." Put simply, if a user searches for "shops open near me" at 7 PM, and you haven't set your special hours, you will be filtered out of the results.
By setting special hours, you get a distinct advantage:
The "Special Hours" Label: Customers see a specific green notification on your listing, which signals that you are active, engaged, and trustworthy.
Trust & Reliability: In an era of misinformation, being the business with accurate data builds loyalty. Nothing kills a reputation faster than a wasted journey to a closed shop.
Don’t Just Be Open - Tell People Why
Setting your hours is the functional part. Now you need the promotional part.
If you are open late, use a Google Post to tell people why!
Create an Event Post: "Late Night Shopping Party! We're open until 9 PM tonight."
Create an Offer Post: "10% off all gift sets between 6 PM and 9 PM this Friday only."
This turns a functional piece of data ("we are open") into a compelling reason to visit ("come and join the fun").
Get Your Festive House in Order
The festive period is the most important time of the year for high street businesses. Don't let a simple admin error cost you sales. Take ten minutes today to map out your Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, and New Year's hours, and load them all into the "Special Hours" section in one go.
Too busy with the Christmas rush to manage your Google Profile? At Brand Canyon, I help Market Harborough businesses maximise their local visibility during the peak trading season. If you want your digital presence to work as hard as you do, let's talk.