Posti handled a record number of parcels last week: a total of 1.5 million parcels. The previous weekly record was set during the Christmas week last year. Posti’s Christmas season has started earlier than in the previous years and it is estimated that the record will be broken again later this year.
“The popularity of Black Friday has grown annually and has now extended to a week of discounts. There has been a sharp increase in the online shopping activity of Finns also, due to the coronavirus situation,” says Tommi Kässi, Vice President, Parcel and eCommerce at Posti.
According to Kässi, Posti’s record-breaking work last week went well.
“We have been preparing ourselves for the peak season since the start of the year. This year, we have over 500 Posti Parcel Lockers more than last year. For the Christmas season, we established a temporary network corresponding to the capacity of approximately 200 pickup points. We also hired approximately 2,500 Christmas season workers around Finland for the busiest peak season.”
The coronavirus started the parcel season in record time
Posti has delivered parcels six days a week already since October, and from this day forward until Christmas seven days a week. C2C e-commerce has also been active. The number of consumer-to-consumer parcels grew up to 50% last week when compared to the figures of the start of the year.
“Home deliveries of parcels have increased due to the coronavirus and, for example, Posti’s Parcel to the Doorstep service has proven to be popular. This is an especially safe way to receive parcels, when the customer does not have to meet the driver face to face,” says Kässi.
Domestic parcels will reach their recipients by Christmas if they are mailed by December 21. You can leave a pre-paid parcel in any Posti Parcel Locker or Posti outlet. For further information on Christmas delivery times, please visit https://www.posti.fi/en/private/chistmas.
Receiving Christmas parcels in an environmentally-friendly manner
The emission differences between online stores and brick-and-mortar stores are mainly created in the last kilometer, i.e. on the way from the distribution center to the recipient’s home. In order to have an impact on this stage, Posti started to use renewable diesel in its vans during the summer.
The use of renewable diesel in Posti’s own fleet alone – covering approximately 40% of the parcel deliveries – means a reduction of 3.8 million annual carbon dioxide emission kilograms. This is the equivalent of removing nearly 1,300 cars from traffic. Posti’s target is a perfect zero emissions by 2030 for emissions caused by Posti’s own operations.
Source: Posti Group