Royal Mail reports parcel sending at historic levels

Royal Mail has announced that the increase in online Christmas shopping has fuelled the busiest quarter for parcels in its 500 year history.

From 1st October to the end December 2020, Royal Mail handled a staggering 496 million parcels. On their busiest day, they delivered and eye-watering 11.7 million parcels, which represented 32% more than their busiest day during the first national lockdown in the Spring of 2020.

Overall, total parcel volumes were up 31% and revenue increased by 37.0%.

Royal Mail has acknowledged that this significant upturn in parcel deliveries has impacted on the quality of their service and, as a result, has pledged to invest in a range of quality improvements. Amongst measures being taken to ensure the quality of their parcel delivery systems, Royal Mail has announced that it has retained approximately 30% of the flexible workers from the Christmas peak, invested in 6,000 additional vehicles and four temporary Parcel Sort Centres have been kept open.

Keith Williams, non-Executive Chair of Royal Mail, commented:

“The third quarter saw unprecedented parcel volumes in Royal Mail, driven by online shopping and the peak Christmas period. The decline in addressed letter volumes slowed. Thanks to the efforts of our team, the retention of around 10,000 of the 33,000 flexible workers from the Christmas peak, and the introduction of new processes, we have been making encouraging progress. We are resolutely focused on delivering a comprehensive service despite the challenging circumstances.”

At Franking Sense, we believe that, as parcel shipping continues to grow exponentially, it’s time to get your business parcel ready. And we’re here to supply the tools to enable you to do it.

Our recently launched SendPro+ sending solution is the very latest technology for sending both letters and parcels through a single device.

SendPro+ offers discounts of up to 78% on the cost of sending your parcels direct from the machine. So there’s no need to negotiate contracted rates. Everything is done through the device.

Interested in becoming parcel-ready? Contact Franking Sense today.