Estonians are increasingly ordering Christmas gifts online, making December the busiest time of the year for delivery service providers, writes ERR News.
The number of parcels has increased rapidly after the Black Friday sales in late November, and is currently at its highest point. Most of the parcels are delivered to parcel machines, the compartments of which are overflowing in the most popular locations and queues are forming.
Tõnu Väät, CEO of the Estonian E-Commerce Association, pointed out that Estonians really trust parcel machines, and 70% of parcels are delivered to them. There are currently about 1,000 parcel machines in Estonia, and their number will soon increase to 1,500. “Last year, nearly 20 million parcels were ordered. The volume is growing by 17 to 18 percent annually,” said Väät.
Parcel service providers have taken additional measures this year to ensure fast delivery of parcels in December. DPD Estonia Commercial Director Janek Kivimurd said that the company has introduced a new automatic sorting line, hired additional employees and increased the number of shifts.
Erko Brandt, Head of Sales for the Baltic States at Omniva, noted that the company has improved its ability to predict delivery volumes and can now plan operations more effectively: “We’ve added extra shifts and brought in additional resources, including office staff — myself, my colleagues, everyone’s pitching in — whether during the week, on weekends or outside working hours.
We’re doing everything we can to get parcels delivered faster.”
Customers using the Omniva self-service platform can now choose two delivery locations. If the parcel machine at the first is full, the parcel will be redirected to the second selected location.
Kivimurd noted that customers can also choose delivery to their home or office.
65% of the shipments are of local origin, while 35% are from abroad. Of the foreign packages, the majority, around 90%, travel from China – from Temu, Shein and similar sites. Delivery service providers warned that shipments from China are unlikely to reach their recipients before the holidays. Another issue is European and especially Estonian online stores – purchases made there will reach their recipients by the holidays. Brandt pointed out that anything that will be handed over to Omniva for delivery by the 20th of December will definitely be able to be under the Christmas tree at home.
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The post Parcels from Asia will not reach Estonia by the holidays appeared first on Baltic News Network.
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