“Mail-back Monday” will be busiest day for online returns, predicts Royal Mail

Royal Mail has predicted that ‘Mail-back Monday’ – 4 January, the first Monday in the New Year – will be the busiest day for online returns through the UK post as shoppers rush to send back unwanted Christmas gifts and online purchases. “On Monday 4 January online returns are predicted to jump by more than 50% in a single day, versus the average number of return parcels per day in December,” said Royal Mail in a statement issued today (3 January).

Royal Mail based its prediction on the number of returns parcels handled through its Tracked Returns service, which is used by more than 500 e-retailers for the return of unwanted online purchases.

Since Christmas, Royal Mail has already handled increased numbers of online returns. The number of parcels returned using the Royal Mail Tracked Returns service increased 41% in the week after Christmas, compared to average number of daily return parcels in December. The greatest number of Tracked Returns parcels have been processed in Royal Mail’s London Houslow, Northampton and Gatwick mail centres.

Nick Landon, Managing Director Royal Mail Parcels, commented: “Monday is set to be a huge day for mailing back unwanted Christmas gifts and online purchases. We expect the volume of return parcels to jump by more than 50%. More and more shoppers are using the post to return their unwanted online purchases. At this time of year the easiest way for many shoppers to return their items is to pop them in the mail rather than tackle the post-Christmas queues.”