Swiss Post posts parcels record

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Swiss Post handled a record number of parcels in 2019, the company said on Friday. The number of letters sent however continues to fall. Online shopping seems to be playing its part.

The companyexternal link dealt with and delivered more than 148 million parcels last year – that’s a rise of 7.3% on 2018.

In a statementexternal link, Swiss Post called the development “pleasing”. But the situation poses “big challenges”, it said. People want their parcels as fast as possible and there is more competition in the segment than before. More investment is therefore needed in infrastructure; Swiss Post said it has freed up more than CHF190 million ($196 million) for new sorting offices and parcel centres.

The number of letters sent continues to fall. There were 1807 million letters sent in 2019, that’s 4.8% fewer than in 2018. Overall in the past five years the volume of letters sent has dropped by 18%.

Christmas online orders

The company already said on December 26 that it had delivered a recorded number of parcels over Christmastime, with all employees “on deck to handle the huge volumes”.

“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 Novemberexternal link,” a statementexternal link said.

Black Friday is now well anchored in Switzerland, with an estimated nine out of ten Swiss people aware of it, reports say.

Swiss Post said that parcel volumes also increased in the run-up to Christmas, “proof that more and more people in Switzerland are shopping online for their Christmas gifts”.