With strikes and delays on the cards, Royal Mail advises posting early to beat the festive rush
The countdown to Christmas is now well and truly underway, with people all over the world looking to post cards and presents to their nearest and dearest.
These next few weeks will see more post sent than at any time of year and, for those of us who live in the UK, there are two main options for getting your presents delivered this Christmas – the first is good auld Saint Nick and the other is the Royal Mail.
Now, if you’ve all been good boys and girls, then the first route should prove as trustworthy as ever. Santa Claus is reliable as it gets, but we can’t be so certain about the second option.
With Royal Mail staff amongst the many workers undertaking strike action this winter, there are potential delays to both domestic and international mail.
If you want to be certain that your gifts and cards arrive in time for Christmas Day, the Royal Mail’s advice is short but clear:
“Allow plenty of time for posting. Please post items and gifts for Christmas early, particularly for international deliveries.”
Royal Mail’s recommended last posting dates for Christmas 2022:
Domestic Services
- Fri 16 December: Royal Mail Bulk Mail Economy
- Mon 19 December: 2nd Class, 2nd Class Signed For, Royal Mail 48
- Wed 21 December: 1st Class, 1st Class Signed For, Royal Mail 24, Royal Mail Tracked 48*
- Thu 22 December: Special Delivery Guaranteed, Royal Mail Tracked 24*
- Fri 23 December: Special Delivery Guaranteed with Saturday Guarantee
* Not available to purchase at Post Office branches. You can buy postage online.
International Standard, Tracking and Signature Services
- Thu 1 December: Australia & New Zealand
- Fri 2 December: China
- Mon 5 December: Caribbean (except British Virgin Islands, Dominica & Anguilla)
- Wed 7 December: South & Central America, Asia (except China), Africa, Far & Middle East
- Thu 8 December: Cyprus, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Eastern Europe (except Czech Republic, Poland & Slovakia)
- Sat 10 December: USA, Canada, Poland, Czech Republic, Italy, Sweden, Finland
- Mon 12 December: Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Slovakia, Denmark, Norway, Iceland
- Tue 13 December: France, Belgium, Luxembourg
International HM Forces Airmail
- Fri 2 December: To Operational & Static HM Forces
Parcelforce Worldwide
A range of international delivery services are available to over 225 countries worldwide at parcelforce.com.
E-commerce industry set for busy Christmas period
2022 has been a challenging year for the retail industry, with the lingering impacts of Covid-19, supply chain issues, inflation and the associated cost-of-living crisis all proving strong headwinds.
These challenges – and tightened household budgets – will impact the e-commerce sector as much as it will traditional bricks-and-mortar retail this year.
However, one thing is for sure – with e-commerce operations transformed globally during the early part of the pandemic, online sales continue to soar.
Market and consumer data specialist Statista estimates that the global e-commerce sales reached US $4.9 trillion in 2021, up almost 50% from 2019 ($3.3 trillion) with predictions that this figure will top US $7 trillion by 2025.
A strong e-commerce sector is here to stay and, despite the current gloomy economic outlook, online retailers in the UK can still expect a busy few weeks as Christmas approaches.
Stock up for the Christmas rush
With the busiest few weeks of the year ahead, e-commerce retailers will need to ensure that they are well stocked up on packaging essentials before the festive rush, but the good news is that leading UK manufacturer Polybags is setup to deliver last-minute Christmas packaging top-ups as they are needed.
Polybags offers a huge range of quality mailing bags and postal envelopes that are perfect for Christmas deliveries, with their 100%-recycled mailing bag handy packs available in small batches of just 200 bags – ideal for a quick Christmas top-up.
If you’re looking for a mailing bag with a bit more Christmas sparkle, then Polybags’ range of sparkling mailing bags could even be posted directly to the recipient, as they would look perfectly at home under the tree.
As with all of their products, Polybags’ extensive mailing bag range is available with fast and free UK delivery as standard, whilst the company also offer a range of express next day options for those really in a hurry.
So whether you’re posting parcels to customers, or presents directly to loved ones – make sure you’ve got the packaging you need and you get your post off on time this Christmas – otherwise you’ll be on the hotline to Santa to bail you out!
Please note: The dates listed above are a guide only and are correct at the time of publication. However, we recommend that you check the Royal Mail website for the latest service updates in the run-up to Christmas.
