USPS has officially ushered in the 2013 holiday season.

In a ceremony at the James A. Farley Post Office in New York City, PMG Pat Donahoe and CMSO Nagisa Manabe highlighted new Priority Mail products and announced holiday mailing and shipping forecasts.

“The holidays are a special time of year for the Postal Service,” said Donahoe. “We consider it a privilege to help spread holiday cheer by delivering billions of holiday greetings and packages to millions of homes and businesses around the country.”

USPS is predicting the busiest mailing day this season will be Monday, Dec. 16, when it expects to process more than 600 million pieces of mail. That same day, 6 million customers are expected to visit Post Offices nationwide.

This is also the first holiday season that customers and businesses can take advantage of the new and improved Priority Mail service, which includes free insurance and tracking, as well as day-specific delivery.

Manabe said the Postal Service is providing “a compelling value proposition for holiday shippers with our improved Priority Mail for whatever they ship and wherever they plan to ship it.” She added, “Our improved Priority Mail products, combined with the improved tracking visibility, convenience and affordability our customers expect, will help make the Postal Service an important resource to customers during the busy holiday season.”

During the holiday season kickoff, USPS also introduced the limited-edition Gingerbread Houses Forever stamp.