Swiss Post handles record volume of Christmas parcels

Swiss Post sorted and delivered a record 1.4 million parcels a day in the week before Christmas, which can be attributed to the continued growth of online shopping. 

This compares with last year’s record of 1.3 million set on December 19, Swiss Post said on Boxing Day.  

While the week before Christmas was the peak, there were also a million parcels a day in the preceding weeks. Since Black Friday on November 23, Swiss Post has handled 25 million parcels. 

To handle this volume, staff at the three sorting centres of Daillens, Härkingen and Frauenfeld have also been working on Saturdays for the past five weeks, the company says. Machinery at the centres has been working almost non-stop except for maintenance operations.  

Swiss Post also reminds people of the “2 x Christmas” campaign launched on December 24 whereby parcels of non-perishable food and toiletries can be sent free to the Swiss Red Cross for people in need in Switzerland and abroad. 

The 2 x Christmas campaign was set up in 1997 and is also backed by retail giant Coop and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, swissinfo.ch’s parent company. It runs until January 11.