Record An Post Parcel Volumes exceeding 3m Per Week

26 November 2020

• An Post’s e-Commerce Backbone handling “spectacular volumes” in run up to Black Friday
• Customers urged to post as early as possible, especially for International destinations
• An Post supporting Green Friday and Irish suppliers and retailers

26 November 2020:   An Post is forecasting Ireland’s busiest ever online shopping fortnight as a surge of support for Irish retailers combines with Black Friday and Cyber Monday e-commerce events this weekend ahead of shops reopening next week.  An Post’s e-Commerce backbone has the capacity with the opening in October, just-in-time, of the second automated parcel hub in CityWest, Dublin; the arrival of 600 additional electric vehicles; and the deployment of the latest handheld scanners for track and trace.
 
In recent weeks An Post has delivered 2.5 million parcels per week and this is set to hit 3.3 million per week between now and mid-December.    The mix of high street store closures during Level 5 Covid restrictions, online retail offers and early Christmas shopping is driving a 230% increase in parcels, from 1 million to 3.3 million items compared to the same period last year.   Letter volumes are also rising steadily in response to An Post’s “Send Love and Memories” campaign. The Post Office network is also handling record numbers of parcels over the counter with customers availing of An Post’s packaging options.
 
Globally and nationally supply chains are under strain, working at record demand. E-tailers, postal and logistics organisations, and retailers’ Online services all carry the same message: Order as early as possible as delivery times globally are longer.
 
David McRedmond, CEO of An Post said “Parcel volumes have reached spectacular levels as the lockdown has driven all early-Christmas purchasing Online. Our €30 million investment in parcels automation ensures we have the capacity to deal with this surge.  Processing and delivery are taking longer than normal and we are delivering record volumes of parcels seven days a week.   It’s great to see such huge support for Irish goods and that customers are acting on our advice to post early to overseas destinations.   
 
“We have 1,000 extra staff helping us this Christmas and our delivery staff have new scanning technology and electric vehicles to help them get parcels and letters to customers as quickly as possible.  We’re working around the clock to deliver parcels and cards to customers speedily and safely. I cannot thank our staff enough for working tirelessly and efficiently despite all the necessary Covid restrictions, whether on the frontline, or in customer support, to make this as good a Christmas as possible for everyone”.
 
As we move into peak Christmas shopping period, An Post has the following advice for customers:
 

• Be careful shopping online.  Ensure that you are dealing with reputable websites displaying the Lock symbol.  Be aware that online retailers may take some time to package and despatch your purchases, despite you receiving an instant confirmation of your order

 

• Check out Irish Retailers first when shopping online.  There has been a huge upsurge in support for Buying Irish and Supporting Local this year and An Post has worked closely with Irish SMEs to get their business online and to support them with parcel discounts and shipping expertise.  An Post is also supporting the Champion Green campaign to promote Irish retailers.

 

• Allow plenty of time for posting     Get ahead with posting Christmas gifts and care packages to family and friends, particularly those overseas.   Ongoing Covid restrictions, reduced freight capacity, volumes and winter weather conditions are all impacting transportation and local delivery schedules across the globe.

 

• Wrap up well - Be sure to use plenty of strong wrapping and tape on your parcels.  Post Offices offer a range of sturdy pre-paid giftbags and boxes for posting nationally and internationally.  Always use the full postal address for the recipient and include the sender’s details so that if the parcel cannot be delivered, we can return it safely to you.   Some countries will not accept parcels without a return address so it’s best to always include one.

7^th December is the latest date for posting parcels and letters by standard service to the US, Canada, Asia, Australia and New Zealand and 12^th December for European destinations (17^th for cards).   An Post advises customers to get posting as early as possible.