Norway Post and its Logistics business, which operates under the Bring brand, posted record parcel volumes on Black Friday this year while more than 200,000 parcels were handled on Cyber Monday, according to estimates.
“In three years, Black Friday confirmed its position as the biggest single day for both internet shoppers and online stores. For us at Bring, it is the start of the Christmas shopping season and the busiest and most pleasant period,” Gunnar Henriksen, e-commerce director of Norway Post, said.
Most of the parcels shipped by Norway Post pass through its major terminal in Oslo so the operational activity increased strongly at the facility during the Black Friday weekend as the postal operator hired additional staff to cope with the growing number of delivery routes.
Norway Post explained that the growing e-commerce requires more capacity for Bring to handle the enormous amount of parcels. The Group distributes 40 million parcels each year, and has invested over NOK 4 billion (€446 million) in new terminals in recent years.
Bring estimates that one million consumers shopped online on Black Friday alone. “This year it is almost impossible to avoid hearing about Black Friday and a bunch of good deals,” the company said.
Meanwhile, the Black Friday “phenomenon” spread even among the Scandinavian "silver surfers" – those consumers aged over 60 as their awareness of it increased dramatically in recent years. Last year, 87% of the silver surfers were aware of Black Friday and the fact that there are great deals to get, compared with only 31% the year before.
“Silver surfers increasingly buy Christmas gifts online, but it is still the youngest age group that dominates online shopping. They are the so-called "digital natives" – those born when the Internet already existed and they use it for almost everything in life, including shopping,” Henriksen explained.
“We are the operator with the best conditions to assist online shops with efficient logistics and give customers a good shopping experience online,” he added.
Yesterday, Norway Post announced that Bring purchased a total of 250 additional trucks with new Euro 6 engines which can run on HVO (second generation biofuels) and will be rolled out on Norwegian roads in 2017. In spring this year, the company signed an agreement for some 130 Scania trucks and purchased around 120 vans as part of a new agreement with Volvo and Mercedes.
Norway Post has a total of 950 trucks in Norway and is regularly replacing its fleet. “It is important for us to have an upgraded vehicle fleet with the lowest possible emissions. These new cars are very reliable providing high quality deliveries for the benefit of us, our customers and society,” Norway Post chief Tone Willie said.
