Last week, Posti set another record in parcel volumes: a total of 1.9 million parcels in a week. The previous record, 1.5 million parcels, was set the week before.
Due to the coronavirus, Christmas shopping has been increasingly carried out online. Just before Black Friday, new coronavirus restrictions entered into force, boosting online shopping even more. According to Posti’s latest survey, more than 2.5 million Finns are planning to buy their Christmas presents online this year. In addition to the online shopping, C2C commerce has also broken records. Last week, the number of consumer-to-consumer parcels increased by up to 70% when compared to the beginning of the year.
“I would like to thank all the customers who have picked up their parcels quickly. When items are picked up quickly, there is more space for the incoming items, and everybody can get their parcels quicker. Some deliveries may be temporarily delayed, and we hope that our customers can bear with us if a delivery takes a little bit longer than normal,” says Tommi Kässi, Vice President, Parcel and eCommerce, Posti.
According to Posti's tracking, parcels are picked up the fastest in the following locations: Hailuoto, Tervo, Sonkajärvi, Salla and Reisjärvi. If there is no room for the item in the original pickup location, it will be forwarded to the closest possible pickup location. During the peak season, Posti Parcel Lockers are filled more often and many of them are now filled several times a day.
We’ve been preparing for this peak season with several measures, for example, by establishing a temporary network corresponding to the capacity of approximately 200 pickup points, adopting 7-day delivery and by innovating new solutions, such as leaving the parcel at the recipient’s doorstep as a COVID safety measure. The number of temporary pickup points is constantly increasing, and new pickup points are being established as required during the peak season. Some 2,500 new seasonal employees have also been hired for the peak season.
