26-12-2019
Swiss Post has set a new record. Between 25 November and 24 December 2019, its staff delivered over 18,6 million parcels – more than ever before during a similar period. Compared to 2018*, the volume of parcels was 8,8 percent higher. The influx of parcels was driven by the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping days, which led to new record weekly volumes for Swiss Post as early as November. And the remaining parcel volumes in the run-up to Christmas once again saw an increase – proof that more and more people in Switzerland are shopping online for their Christmas gifts. In the last week before Christmas, staff delivered close to a million parcels on peak days and even cracked the one million mark on 17 December. The belt conveyors at the parcel centers in Daillens (VD), Härkingen (SO), Frauenfeld (TG), Urdorf (ZH) and Cadenazzo (TI) ran almost around the clock.
Tireless efforts by Swiss Post employees made this special achievement possible. For example, parcel centers operated on Saturdays from 30 November until 21 December to sort the huge volumes. And delivery staff delivered parcels to households on the Saturdays after Black Friday and immediately before Christmas – without any extra costs being passed on to customers. Mail carriers have also been very busy over the past few weeks. They delivered an average of 16 million consignments each day that were processed at letter centers. This figure includes 106,000 small goods consignments from abroad. Over two thirds of these came from Asia.
Cadenazzo brings intended relief
The record volumes are pleasing for Swiss Post. But competition remains fierce in the parcel market. Swiss Post wants to hold on to its position as market leader into the future and to differentiate itself from its competitors in terms of quality. This will require big investments in infrastructure, given the large parcel volumes. Swiss Post is on track in this respect. The first regional parcel center in Cadenazzo has been operating since October and has brought much-needed relief for the center in Härkingen. Swiss Post is also continuing to invest in sorting capacity. Next year, it will open three further regional parcel centers in Ostermundigen (BE), Vétroz (VS) and Untervaz (GR), costing more than CHF 190 million francs in total. The new centers are necessary given the sheer influx of parcels. Annual volumes have increased every year since 2013. This will also be the case in 2019, with the 140 million parcel mark likely to be broken, a significant increase on the 138 million parcels that were sent in 2018. Swiss Post will announce the exact numbers for 2019 parcel volumes in mid-January 2020.
*↑ Swiss Post has adjusted its counting method. It now communicates actual parcel volumes, rather than the number of sorting events. The approximately 25 million parcels (= sorting events) from 2018’s holiday volumes correspond to around 17 million actual parcels. Since a parcel is sorted in several parcel centers depending on the transport route, the number of sorting events is higher than the actual parcel volume.
“2 x Christmas” campaign: solidarity with those in need
Supporting those affected by poverty, making others happy, sharing your own prosperity with others: that’s the aim of the “2 x Christmas” solidarity campaign which began on 24 December. For 23 years, the Swiss Red Cross, broadcaster SRG SSR, Swiss Post and retailer Coop (the latter for the last three years) have collected donated goods parcels for people who are affected by poverty. The collection period runs from Christmas Eve until the beginning of January 2020. Parcels containing non-perishable food and hygiene products and toiletries can be handed in free of charge at any Swiss Post branch. People donating goods can also have their parcels collected free of charge by a mail carrier from their home or another address with “pick@home”, by visiting www.swisspost.ch/2xchristmas. The campaign will run until 11 January 2020.
Source: Swiss Post