Hermes, the consumer delivery specialist, has confirmed that it enjoyed its busiest and most efficient peak season to date. Throughout December the delivery firm processed 30.3 million parcels, representing a 24% increase on the previous year.
The record-breaking peak season followed a successful Black Friday period, with Hermes processing 8.2 million parcels in the week following the major retail event that is famed for huge discounts. Throughout the final month of the year, Hermes handled more than one million parcels in a single night on 22 separate occasions, while working the Bank Holiday on December 28th ensured its clients also received a great Boxing Day sale service. The busiest day of the year fell on Friday 4th December when the delivery firm processed 1.4 million parcels.
For the third year running, Hermes offered its customers a Christmas Guarantee, which meant that every parcel that entered the Hermes network, with a UK mainland address, by 23.59 on Monday 21 December had at least one delivery attempt in time for Christmas, or the cost of the delivery was refunded.
Carole Woodhead, CEO at Hermes, said: “Our success during the recent peak season is testimony to the meticulous planning between our client managers and retailers, combined with the hard work and dedication displayed by our teams across our hubs, depots and final mile delivery network.
“Last year we also invested in a secondary sortation tier at our fully automated hub in Warrington, opened another 125 sub depots across the UK and added another 3,000 couriers to our network for the peak season. This investment has boosted our overall capacity and helped us to deliver a fantastic service in the lead-up to and after Christmas.”
The myHermes delivery solution, which is used by consumers and SMEs to send parcels within the UK and to more than 190 countries around the world, saw a 30% increase in volumes throughout December. The myHermes ParcelShop network, which now totals 4,500 outlets, handled 40% more parcels in December than the previous year.