It’s actually been Christmas for us since March, “says Andrea Pilz-Kapfinger, logistics center manager at Post AG in Allhaming.” At Christmas we expect 20 to 30 percent more parcels than last year. “The Austrians have recognized that this is an interesting way of shopping is “especially for risk groups” to have goods delivered to your home. “All-round supply is possible. In this sense, we are critical infrastructure. “
Austrian Post is expecting up to a million packs per day and 710,000 per month in December in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The daily peak values in 2019 were 750,000 at Christmas, in December 2019 there were 630,000 parcels, according to a Post spokesman. Since the beginning of the Corona measures, Austrians have already ordered and sent via the post a third more parcels than the year before. The Viennese agency for online marketing Otago reports that nine out of ten adult Austrians have already bought online. This is the main reason for the pack flood.
Otago boss Markus Inzinger: “The trend at Christmas is relatively strongly towards online shopping.” Post AG is in any case “prepared for the package blessing”, promises Post boss Georg Pölzl. Also with regard to the corona protective measures: There are emergency plans, additional buffer and storage areas in all logistics centers. The employees would be tested for Covid-19 at regular random samples in order to avoid clusters like in spring.
Package wins, letter loses
Expressed in euros: In the parcel division, Swiss Post achieved an increase of 31.9 percent to 576.6 million euros in the first nine months of the year. In total, there will be more than 150 million parcels over the year, and more than 160 million in 2021. Five years ago it was half that. The rise in profits of eleven million euros for parcels in the first three quarters could not compensate for the decline in profits for letters and advertising.
Pölzl estimates that the corona crisis has cost Swiss Post around 50 million euros so far. Half of these were additional costs and lost sales. Pilz-Kapfinger says that the workforce has also been increased at all levels in Allhaming. “The high Christmas level has almost become normal for us.” As a manager, she is “pretty quick on the road with her team. We don’t have to worry about our calorie burn,” she jokes. In these challenging times, humor is more important than ever. In any case, the whole summer had been planned and concepts developed. “Now nothing can shake us anymore”, she feels well prepared for this year’s ultimate Christmas stress.
Amazon also sends some of its own
In addition to the post office, various parcel services and the world’s largest online marketplace, Amazon, deliver packages themselves. The US online retailer opened its second parcel distribution center near Vienna in August. Around 400 drivers from smaller delivery companies are responsible for delivering the packages. Industry experts estimate that at least a quarter of post parcels are still generated by Amazon & Co.
How the Upper Austrians shop online
15 percent of Upper Austrians have been buying more products online since the corona crisis than before, according to a special evaluation by the online marketing agency Otago for the OÖNachrichten (Austria: 22 percent). Shopping in shops in the immediate vicinity has also increased since March.
17 percent of Upper Austrians shop at least once a week. They are significantly more skeptical about buying groceries than the average Austrian: 39 percent exclude this product category when buying online.
What do people like to buy then? The picture corresponds to that of the whole of Germany. Clothing comes first, followed by books, and cosmetics and personal care products in third place. Only 13 percent of Upper Austrians, compared to 19 percent of Austrians, spent money on computer games on the Internet in the past 12 months. Upper Austrians are also less willing to pay for music downloads than the rest of their fellow citizens.
The top three reasons for Upper Austrians to buy online instead of in a shop are: not to be bound by opening times (47 percent), to have a larger selection (44) and the availability of products (44). 58 percent use seasonal occasions such as Christmas as a reason to buy more online than usual.
Article by
Ulrike Rubasch
Economics editor
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