- Monday takes the crown as the most popular day for parcel services, with shoppers most likely to collect, send and return items in the late afternoon
- Across the week, parcel activity peaks between 3pm and 6pm, as consumers fit visits around the school run and commute home
- More than a third of parcel transactions at local retailers take place outside traditional working hours, highlighting demand for early-morning, evening and weekend services
New data reveals that Britain’s parcel activity peaks at 5pm on Mondays, when shoppers are most likely to visit local retailers and parcel shops to collect, send or return items.
As Brits get on top of their parcel admin at the start of the week, the data from Collect+, part of the PayPoint Group, found Monday late afternoons to be the nation’s parcel rush hour, with activity reaching its highest level for the week at 5pm, closely followed by 4pm on the same day.
With one in five (19.5 per cent) parcel transactions taking place on Monday, the top seven busiest hourly slots across the whole week all fall on Mondays between midday and 7pm. In fact, this time of the week is so popular it is a substantial 27 per cent busier than Tuesday afternoons, which are the next busiest period for parcel visits to convenience retailers.
Across the week, late afternoons are the busiest time for parcel services, suggesting consumers fit collections, returns and drop-offs around their commute or the school run. The dataset found 4pm is the peak hour collectively for parcels, followed by 5pm and then 3pm. Naturally, Sundays are the quietest time, with local retailers seeing nearly half the amount of customers (47 per cent) looking to collect, send or return parcels, in comparison to Monday.
Although Sundays are quieter than weekdays, weekend demand remains strong, with more than one fifth of parcels (21.4 per cent) processed on Saturdays and Sundays. Together with late-evening and early-morning use, this means more than a third of all parcel transactions (35 per cent) take place outside traditional working hours, as consumers fit sorting parcels around their busy schedules.
“Our data shows that shoppers are starting the week by getting their parcel admin sorted, with more people using our retailers to collect, send and return parcels on Mondays than on any other day," said Sam Holden, Director of Parcels and E-Commerce at PayPoint.
“Our network is designed to give consumers the choice and flexibility to manage parcels when and where it suits them, whether that’s commuting, doing the school run or out and about at the weekend. As we head into peak shopping season, that convenience is even more important as consumers want to collect and drop off multiple parcels in one place and would rather avoid risking lots of deliveries being left on their doorstep.”