Flood of Christmas parcels as the Monday cut off looms for Christmas deliveries

Thursday, 16 December 2021

Parcel volumes are up 25 per cent as the Christmas cut off looms for New Zealand Posts courier packages.

New Zealand Post parcel volumes are up to 25 per cent compared to the same time last year, as the cut-off date for sending Christmas parcels looms.

NZ Post chief operating officer Brendon Main said Monday was the final cut off for parcels to be delivered in time for Christmas.

“Send things as soon as you possibly can to make sure it's where it needs to be in time for Christmas,” Main said.

It was already too late for domestic parcels to be sent by economy class.

NZ Post had forecast a 20 per cent rise in online shopping this holiday season, but its latest research suggests even that was conservative.

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“Send things as soon as you possibly can to make sure it's where it needs to be in time for Christmas,” NZ Post chief operating officer Brendon Main says.

The state-owned postal service had brought forward the deadlines for sending Christmas presents domestically.

Main said the volume increase was largely because of the August lockdown.

“People’s shopping habits have changed, and a lot more people are buying online, which lead to a boom. It’s been a massive Christmas for us,” he said.

There were delays of up to one business day across the country, as more than 3000 couriers deliver 2.4 million parcels this week.

Couriers would work up until Christmas Eve, before taking a four-day break. So any parcels that did not make it would be delivered on December 29, he said.

Freightways head of express packaging Steve Wells said New Zealand Couriers parcel volumes were up 20 per cent for the time of year.

“The vast majority of parcels continue to be delivered the next day. However, delivery on some items is being delayed by 24 to 48 hours.”

Only 2.6 per cent of parcels were taking 5 days or longer to be delivered, Wells said.

The company paused collection of parcels to be delivered within Auckland yesterday and today, to cope with demand.

To ensure delivery time frames are met, courier drivers in Auckland were making their last pick-ups at 3pm and were doing deliveries only later in the afternoon, Wells said.

A temporary warehousing marquee was providing additional sorting capacity, he said.