7 ways to make your deliveries run smoothly this Christmas
23 October 2025
For retailers, there’s no more important time of year than the festive period. With shopping activity at its peak, it can mean a big boost for your bottom line. Having the right delivery plan in place and the right delivery partner, can influence who your customers decide to shop with.
That’s why you need a yuletide delivery partner who can really deliver… not just parcels, letters, cards and every kind of gift… but your reputation too.
Here are 7 ways we can help make Christmas easier – for you and your customers.
1. Streamline and send little and large with one carrier
When those Christmas orders hit, managing multiple carriers can take time you simply don’t have. Sending big and small parcels with the same delivery partner can make life simpler.
Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide can help you deliver your best Christmas yet. We can help you send parcels up to 2.5m in length (500 litres in size) and 30kg in weight, all through one network.
2. We’re first for last minute gifts
At this time of year, people often leave gift purchases to the last minute, so you need a partner that helps you secure those eleventh-hour sales! With Royal Mail and Parcelforce you can offer tracked, timed and next day deliveries up to 7 days a week… And if customers aren’t going to be in, we’ve got that covered too, with convenient collection services via our ever-growing network of Parcel Lockers and Royal Mail Shop outlets across the nation.
3. Offer your customers the convenience of simple returns
Unfortunately, not all Christmas gifts are as well received as others, but your returns policy can help you to secure more sales: 52% report that free returns would most encourage them to use one retailer over another when shopping online. And 74% are less likely to shop with a retailer that charges for returns than with one that doesn’t.1
And 74% are less likely to shop with a retailer that charges for returns than with one that doesn’t.1
Offer your customers the widest variety of returns options that fit around their festive schedules. Through Royal Mail Tracked Returns® customers can access over 130,000 drop-off points – including Parcel Drop-boxes and Postboxes for smaller items! And if shoppers don’t have time to drop their item off, we’ll pick up from their doorstep with our Parcel Collect service and even bring the label!
4. Keener on being greener?
These days, everyone is talking about the environment – and your customers are no exception. So, show them how eco-conscious your business is by choosing us as your delivery partner.
Our postmen and women walk up to a billion steps every day, covering over half of our delivery routes. All that walking helps to make us the UK’s greenest parcel operator.2
We also have the largest electric delivery fleet around, with 7,000 electric vans currently in operation, which is helping bring cleaner air to our towns and cities.
5. Sending beyond the UK?
There’s a world of opportunity out there waiting to buy from your business – and we can help you reach them. We’ve got a wide range of export services that are ideal for your business needs. And we can deliver to over 240 countries worldwide.
Enjoy paperless customs and take advantage of a range of delivery terms to Europe. And if you’re sending items to the USA, our brand new Postal Delivered Duties Paid (PDDP) service offers simple customs clearance and delivery by the local trusted postal service.
Wherever it’s going, choosing Royal Mail and Parcelforce will make a world of difference – and help you reach more customers than ever.
6. Extra orders need extra support
Christmas will (hopefully!) create a big boom of additional orders, particularly if yours is a gifting business. And while it’s exciting to see the cashflow coming in, you also need the logistics behind the scenes to get those orders out and under the tree in time.
Royal Mail and Parcelforce are ready to help you meet festive delivery and return demands when you need them most. We’ve got extra staff, including 20,000 seasonal delivery workers on top of our 86,000 Royal Mail posties and Parcelforce drivers. And we’re growing our fleet of 48,200 vehicles with an additional 6,800 hire vans to support your operations this year.
7. You can’t fail with direct mail
It’s all very well having existing customers who already know you – but what about everyone else?! You could be missing out on hundreds or even thousands of potential new customers, simply because they don’t know your business exists. That’s where direct mail comes in. It puts your business in front of existing customers and new customers alike… and there’s no better time of year to promote what you offer than the run up to the festive season.
Our Letters services will help you get your festive message out there where it matters – in the hands of your customers.
Did you know that 97% of mail is engaged with?3 Our Letters services will help you get your festive message out there where it matters – in the hands of your customers.
Make it your most successful Christmas yet
This is a big time for your business… so it’s good to know that Royal Mail and Parcelforce are on hand to make a big difference. From delivery to returns, we’ve got it covered, so you can focus on processing more orders and making this Christmas the most profitable one ever. Joined up. Scaled up. Wrapped up. Profits up.
Footnotes
1 Mintel Consulting, Online Retailing Consumer Report 2025.
2 Based on average gCO2e emissions per parcel delivered by UK parcel operators, as published by Citizens Advice 2024 Parcels League Table.
3 JICMAIL Q1 2025
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