£ 2.5bn high street blitz after parcel deliveries are delayed
SHOPPERS will hit the high street for a festive bonanza this weekend as thousands of customers face parcel delivery chaos.
Millions of people are expected to splash out £ 2.5billion in stores as Royal Mail acknowledged many parcels will be delayed because of “exceptionally high volumes” after a surge in online shopping.
There are an estimated 200 million more parcels in the postal and courier system this year because of the demand for online goods caused by the pandemic.
Royal Mail said the longer delivery times were also caused by social distancing measures at mail centres and delivery offices.
Andy Bromley, director of market research agency Spark Emotions, said the delays could be “good news” for high street retailers.
He added: “We estimate that £ 2.5billion could be spent on the high street this weekend.
“Forty four per cent of shoppers who planned to shop for Christmas online will also now shop in store.
“Any doubt shoppers may have about waiting for an online delivery will increase their sense of urgency which could also be good news for high street retailers, as increased urgency often leads to a higher level of spend.”
In an effort to keep up with demand, Royal Mail has taken on 33,000 seasonal workers, while Amazon has recruited 20,000 staff, Hermes 13,000 and Yodel 3,000.
Royal Mail said: “Some customers may experience slightly longer delivery timescales than our usual service standards.
“This is due to the exceptionally high volumes we are seeing, exacerbated by the virus- related measures we have put in place in local mail centres and delivery offices.
“In such cases, we always work hard to get back to providing our usual level of service as quickly as we can.” Meanwhile, retailers are struggling to get stock into stores in time for Christmas as several British ports remain gridlocked.
The congestion at Felixstowe, Suffolk, the UK’s biggest container port, as well as other locations has prompted a growing number of vessels to either partially unload or leave cargo at Belgian and Dutch ports instead.
Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said retailers were “working overtime to try to rearrange and redirect incoming freight in order to ensure customers can get the items they need”.
Industry bosses fear the lack of stock could cause a massive price hike in the run- up to Christmas.
The British Toy and Hobby Association said: “Toy manufacturers are facing a drastic price increase on freight due to a shortage of capacity and containers, which has seen prices increase three- fold and as much as four- fold in some cases.
“This is troubling for the toy industry who are under pressure to ensure children around the country get to open their exciting new toys on Christmas Day.”