Royal Mail announces Christmas posting dates
Royal Mail has announced its latest recommended posting dates for Christmas for international economy surface mail services to deliver letters, cards and parcels around the world. The latest recommended posting date for surface mail to Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Asia, South America, Russia and the Caribbean is next Monday (28 September).
This is followed by the recommended date of Tuesday 29 September 2015 for surface cards and parcels to the Middle East, and the Far East.
For the USA, Canada Singapore, Hong Kong and South Africa the latest recommended posting date is Tuesday 13 October 2015.
Surface mail to Eastern Europe, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Malta and Iceland must be in the Royal Mail system by Tuesday 3 November 2015, if parcels and cards are to arrive in time for Christmas Day.
Surface mail to the rest of Western Europe should be posted by Tuesday 17 November 2015 to arrive in time for the festive season.
David Cunnington, Head of International at Royal Mail, commented: “We don’t want anyone to be disappointed if they are waiting for Christmas mail. As always, we urge customers to post early as Royal Mail builds up to its busiest time of year.”
Airmail recommended posting dates for around the globe are typically in early December and Royal Mail said that they will be announced at a later date.
This may only be one extra day, but for what will actually be a total of four consecutive days without service, this is just another example of how Royal Mail could be losing focus of what their customers really want and expect.
We often see a majority of small online retailers who are reliant on Royal Mail services to deliver their sales and they have the right to question these types of decisions. The peak period is a vital time for all online retailers, preparation and planning are a must for everyone to ensure customer service levels are met.
It will be interesting to see how Royal Mail will communicate this news to their customers. It will then be down to the individual retailers on how they will overcome any potential issues from this. Anyone sending presents or time sensitive mail should think about proactively alerting consumers to cut-off dates for Royal Mail deliveries, as well as collection disruptions from missed deliveries and should also explore alternative delivery solutions if necessary.