An Post experienced its busiest peak season ever over the Christmas period of 2020.
Purchasing items online has increased across the board since the pandemic began, whether it be clothing, electronics or fitness equipment.
The postal service saw a 300 per cent increase in its operations over the Christmas period compared to 2019, and demand has continued, as it currently remains twice as busy as it was last year.
Director of International Trade with An Post, Cyril McGrane, said a lot of the parcels are coming from the UK.
“We saw phenomenal trade in the pre-Christmas period. Again, looking at year-on-year, and again reflective of the entire lockdown period, our mix — which clearly manages for retail and manages online — was incredibly busy,” he said.
We called it super-peak, it was our busiest beak season ever
“We called it super-peak, it was our busiest beak season ever. We’re 100 plus per cent up on January last year.”
Although consumers are experiencing delays on certain items arriving from the UK and are faced with extra tariffs as a result of Brexit, Mr McGrane said that changes to online shopping have not affected demand.
“There is a change, there’s no doubt about that, there is more paperwork and more declarations to be completed,” he said.
“We’re not seeing it overall affect demand.”
