St. Nicholas makes landfall in the Low Countries: PostNL ready for holiday rush
PostNL tips to ensure all parcels arrive in time
The Hague, the Netherlands, 18 November 2023 – All 50,000 people working at or for PostNL, from employees to deliverers to sorters, are once more geared up for the hectic holiday season. PostNL has taken a whole host of measures to prepare for these busiest times of the year and deliver happy holidays to everyone in Belgium and the Netherlands. It has extra trucks on the road, is making more delivery rounds and will run an extra delivery day on Sunday 26 November.
Traditionally, the busiest time of the e-commerce year in the Low Countries kicks off when St. Nicholas makes landfall, i.e. today, Saturday 18 November. Next week is Black Friday, followed by Cyber Monday three days later, and the main St. Nicholas Eve celebrations a little over a week later. PostNL expects these two shopping events and the St. Nicholas celebrations to spark a major peak in online orders – a peak that will run for well over two weeks and that will see PostNL deliver millions of parcels.
About double the number of parcels a day
On a normal day, PostNL delivers some 1.1 million parcels, but over the holiday season the numbers go sharply up. That’s why the company has made a range of preparations as the year progressed, all aimed at making sure PostNL is all set to deliver around twice as many parcels a day in November and December. With parcel volumes a tad lower this past summer, the road to these peak days has been steeper than usual.
PostNL prepared
These peak days see around 1,250 trucks and 6,000 parcel vans ready and waiting to transport parcels. And PostNL continues to focus sharply on sustainable deliveries, running on cleaner fuels and using light electric cars and vans wherever possible. Meanwhile, it has encouraged web shops to launch their Black Friday shopping deals early and spread their parcels drop-offs across the week where they can.
How to order
A few tips to make sure you receive all your parcels on time.
- Order on weekdays where and when you can, and leave plenty of time. This helps to spread volumes and prevents delays.
- Set your delivery preferences in the app, and decide yourself where PostNL delivers your parcels.
- Why not choose delivery at a PostNL point or parcel locker? Choose the time and place where you collect your parcel.
- Track & trace in the PostNL app always has the latest info on your parcel.