Royal Mail have announced today their latest Christmas post dates, so consumers are reminded to leave enough time to post their letterboxes and cards.
The supplier say that latest posting date for 1st Class stamps is 20th Thursday, December and 18th Tuesday, December. Customers should aim to send their Christmas-related gifts within the designated slot dates to make sure their recipients receive them.
This announcement comes as Royal Mail suggests in their new research that sending Christmas cards is still the nations preferred way of boosting festive cheer. Some 80% of UK respondents say that giving Christmas cards is their preferred way of sending their Christmas wishes to their loved ones. This tumps festive well-wishes in person (62%), followed by methods of digitally communicating including text (34%), Facebook message (26%) and WhatsApp (21%).
The polled UK consumers put their love for Christmas cards to the pleasure of keeping them on display in their home environment (53%). Less than a half (45%) of respondent say that they enjoy reading the messages inside, with the same cohort cite the thrill of receiving something through the post as their favourite part of getting letters or cards sent to them.
“Whilst social media is a great way of keeping in touch on a day-to-day basis, there’s something inherently festive and heart-warming about sending and receiving a physical card through the post, which someone has lovingly taken the time to write. Put simply, sometimes a letter or card is better.”
-Mark Street, head of campaigns at Royal Mail
As shoppers expectations have taken a different shape over the years as a result of emerging services, trends and solutions. Amazon have been a distributor in customers’ old expectations and raised them to a new level by stretching the peak trading ordering time to as late as 10pm on Christmas Eve via their Prime Now, accelerated fulfilment service. Royal Mail remains traditional in their delivery approach as yesterday the supplier have asked the UK shoppers to help them tackle the Christmas rush by posting their gifts early. This means Amazon would be generating more sales during the festive day as a result of their investment in the last mile service, whereas Royal Mail’s limited delivery slots would mean lost sales to more innovative competitors.
