Australia Post imposes strict deadline for Christmas deliveries
Consumers are being urged to make online purchases well before the end of November to ensure gifts they intend to send arrive in time for Christmas.
Australia Post has set a deadline of December 12 to guarantee parcels will be delivered before Christmas Day and December 19 as the guarantee for Express Post deliveries.
Usually Australia Post delivers packages within two to three business days in metropolitan areas, but due to the pandemic and the increase in online shopping, the timeline has been forced to change.
State-wide lockdowns throughout the year also wreaked havoc when it came to timely deliveries.
It also meant more people chose to shop online rather than in-store.
Consumers also need to make sure their online purchase arrives well before December 12 so they have enough time to forward it on.
In August, Australia Post delivered 600,000 more parcels than for the same month last year and the expectation that some interstate borders will remain closed until the end of the year, Australia Post is expecting its busiest festive season yet.
“We are encouraging people to plan their Christmas shopping early,” Mr Starr said.
“There will be lots going on in November with sales like Black Friday, and people will want to take advantage of the sales.
“We are hiring 4000 more people to help us through what we know will be our busiest Christmas ever we’ve ever seen in terms of online shopping.”
He said letters to the North Pole need to be posted by November 26 to give Santa enough time to reply before Christmas.