New research by Royal Mail shows that people in Chelmsford bought more Christmas gifts than any other UK town during the Christmas rush period last year.
The research, which is based on analysis of deliveries by Royal Mail’s Tracked service, also shows that 43 per cent of people plan to do more Christmas shopping online than this time in 2011.
Royal Mail says it is preparing for this year’s Christmas rush with more resources devoted to package sorting and delivery. Between November and December last year it made 7 million deliveries alone.
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The news will come as a boost to UK online retailers; the research revealed that the average shopper plans to spend more than £400 on presents this year, 36 per cent more than in 2011.
Nick Landon, Royal Mail’s managing director of fulfilment, said: “Online shopping is now such a key part of the Christmas shopping experience. Our research shows that more people will be going online for their festive gifts this year than ever before.
He added: “Royal Mail is prepared for this rise in parcels, by opening our eight dedicated parcel sort centres, which will assist our network during our busiest time of the year.”
The top 10 towns going the ecommerce route on during the festive season last year were:
Chelmsford
Lincoln
Colchester
Derby
Guildford
Stockton on Tees
Bedford
London (West End)
Maidstone
St Albans
Parcel deliveries are expecting volumes of deliveries to increase every year for the foreseeable future and are preparing for the extra work. Royal Mail says it has opened eight dedicated parcel sorting centres for Christmas 2012.
The research was carried out by Onepoll for Royal Mail and involved 2,000 UK adults who celebrate Christmas.
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