Parcel carriers across Europe are seeing record peak season volumes this month as e-commerce sales continue to generate a substantial increase in the number of parcels to be delivered to consumers for Christmas.
Austrian Post sorted a record number of more than half a million parcels (509,000) yesterday, which was some 40,000 more than the peak day last year. The postal operator, which normally delivers about 250,000 parcels a day throughout the year, expects some 400,000 items a day on average in the run-up to Christmas.
The company said staff are working special shifts, including making deliveries on Saturdays and, if necessary, on Sundays. December 18 is the cut-off day for domestic parcels to reach people on time by December 24.
In Germany, B2C parcel carrier Hermes has record volumes across the country and expects overall volumes to increase by 15% to about 36 million parcels for this year’s Christmas season. Growth regions include Berlin, with an expected 20% rise to more than 1.7 million parcels, the Ruhr region, with some 220,000 more parcels this month, Hamburg (160,000 more), Munich (110,000 more) and Frankfurt (+50%). Its cut-off day is December 22, with deliveries made until December 24.
Operations director Dirk Rahn said: “The conveyor belts are going at top speed in our parcel centres across the country. The strongest volume days are yet to come and we’re expecting a record figure.” Hermes will mostly be delivering online orders but the number of private parcels is also rising, he added.
In France, La Poste’s B2C unit Colissimo was expecting to deliver up to two million parcels a day during the peak weeks compared to its usual daily volumes of about one million parcels. Last year, the Christmas period accounted for 46 million parcels out of the annual total of 270 million.
Colissimo prepared for this year’s peak season in close cooperation with e-commerce and other major clients to ensure punctual deliveries. It has added 400 more vehicles, giving it 900 vehicles for daily deliveries, and there will be extra Sunday morning deliveries in the largest cities on December 20. Its cut-off day for Christmas parcels is December 21.
The group’s express operator Chronopost expects peak season volumes to rise about 12% to some 880,000 parcels during the final two weeks of December. It has activated six regional hubs to support its seven main national hubs, added a Lille – Montpellier flight, and has some 1,500 additional delivery rounds.
Various other parcel carriers around Europe have also issued positive growth forecasts, including high single-digit and low double-digit volume increases, and details of their peak season operating planning in recent weeks.
In the USA, UPS has been struggling to cope with the surge in online orders that has generated higher holiday volumes than it expected, resulting in a drop in on-time delivery rates, the Wall Street Journal reported. It cited a UPS spokesman as confirming volumes had been at “levels greater than the original peak plan” at some locations.
Meanwhile, UPS announced this week that its MyChoice scheme, offering online shoppers diverse options for residential deliveries, has now reached 20 million members worldwide. It’s also a key part of the UPS Mobile App, which has so far been downloaded seven million times on iOS and Android devices.
“UPS My Choice gives consumers the gift of convenience and control,” said Stu Marcus, UPS vice president of customer technology. “With the continued growth of global e-commerce comes more packages. UPS is focused on delivering where consumers are, not where they aren’t, and improving the online shopping experience.”
UPS My Choice members receive an e-mail or text message the day before a shipment arrives. If they won’t be home, they can re-route most packages to their workplace, a neighbour’s home or a nearby UPS Access Point™ location. Most delivery alerts include an estimated delivery window, and for a small fee, UPS can also provide a 2-hour confirmed delivery window for US deliveries. In addition, online shoppers who will away for the holidays can activate a vacation setting to have packages held and delivered when they return home.
