NZ Post drivers and staff in Whangārei are rushed off their feet in the lead-up to Christmas. Photo / Michael Cunningham
NZ Post drivers and staff in Whangārei are rushed off their feet in the lead-up to Christmas. Photo / Michael Cunningham
New Zealand Post has deployed extra staff and resources in Northland this Christmas to cope with a massive surge in online Christmas shopping which has extended well beyond the usual lead-in period.
December 3 saw the single biggest parcel freight movement through its Whangārei operations centre due to combined BlackFriday and Cyber Monday promotions.
Usually the volume of parcels being processed through Whangārei averages 280 cubic metres - but this soared to 400 cu m during the sales from November 29 to December 2 which follow an American retail tradition based around Thanksgiving.
NZ Post Northland regional service delivery manager Graeme Burnard said parcel volumes have been growing "year by year".
"The courier industry gears itself up for this time of year, but it seems to just keep on growing year after year and getting more hectic," he said.
"Our residential couriers are run off their feet. We are delivering more products now to residential addresses than we are to business addresses. It's been a bit of a turnaround.
"We've got a chiller and we fill it with bottles of water so we can hydrate them when they come in; we've got chillers in every depot in the North."
Daily parcel volumes delivered via Northland fleets over November averaged 12,640 per day.
Burnard anticipates this to increase by around 9 per cent in December.
Courier Post owner driver Judy Chapman is one of many NZ Post staff working hard to deliver an influx of parcels over the extended Christmas period. Photo / Michael Cunningham
The fleets include couriers, rural delivery contractors and delivery agents driving the electric Paxster vehicles and motorcycles.
An extra two transport truck and trailer units and four vans have been brought in to cope with the increased volumes over the extended peak period.
The state-owned enterprise has also added or extended contracts equating to nine additional courier vans to the Northland fleet and brought on 19 extra bodies as couriers, parcel sorters and customer service representatives.
Many of the rural contractors have also added additional vans and drivers to manage increasing volumes on their runs.
Rural postie Doug Mackenzie - who's carried out the Kaikohe, Ohaeawai, Waimate North and Hupara run with his wife Karyn for 17 years – said volumes are definitely up this year.
The Kaikohe resident has had his second vehicle up and running since mid-November and has hired a relief driver to help.
"I can't remember the volumes being as high last year," Mackenzie said.
"Packet and post volumes have been very high...they'd be up around 15 per cent more than what I'd normally carry on a daily basis.
"Normally you get a peak two weeks before Christmas but this year it started six weeks before – so the peak is much earlier this year."
Northland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Steve Smith said having the shop doors open isn't enough these days. Photo / John Stone
Online shopping grew 16 per cent in 2018, according to a NZ Post report on eCommerce in New Zealand.
Overall 1.8 million New Zealanders shopped online last year, spending a total of $4.2 billion.
Northland residents spent $142 million online last year.
Northland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Steve Smith said online shopping is good for local businesses "assuming they're participating with the online shopping trend".
"Unfortunately for most retailers these days, having the shop doors open simply isn't enough.
"If you're a store without an online presence it's just going to take money out of your wallet."
But having a store front is an advantage, Smith said, as consumers also want the experience of shopping in local stores whose staff are often familiar with their customers.
He encourages people to shop locally because "they go the extra distance."
"A lot of shopping now is about the destination and the experience as a whole," Smith said.
"That doesn't happen online, you don't have that experience."
