Shoppers urged to return to high street amid Royal Mail strikes

Shoppers looking to buy Christmas presents online amid strike-hit parcel deliveries are being urged to visit their local high street. 

About 100,000 postal workers at Royal Mail will walk out on Wednesday (14) and Thursday (15) in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions, threatening Christmas deliveries and leading retailers to issue an urge to shoppers to visit the stores for their shopping needs. 

“If the couriers are already saying they can’t cope, anybody buying from the internet expecting it to be guaranteed is now probably now running the risk of being let down,” The Guardian quoted Gary Grant, The Entertainer’s executive chairman, as saying. 

“Not everything is cheaper online. You’re going to get the same price in our stores as on our website and you can pick it up and take it home. So get down the high street and experience some old-fashioned customer service.” 

Richard Shorney, founder of the Shop Local campaign, said there were many tales of internet deliveries being unreliable. “Go and have a face to face experience with a human. So much nicer to meet someone rather than clicking a button,” he urged. 

Marks & Spencer says most orders are being delivered within the usual timeframe but has warned some online orders “may take a little longer to arrive”. 

David Jinks, head of consumer research at delivery price comparison site ParcelHero, said: “Planned strikes affecting traditional postal deliveries just before Christmas could throw final order dates into disarray. 

“Last-minute express and next-day deliveries can cost at least a fiver extra compared to standard delivery options. Cash-strapped Brits, facing higher bills and galloping inflation, simply don’t have the money to burn on expensive delivery options.” 

Retail experts are expecting shoppers to head back to high streets in greater numbers this year as fears about deliveries combine with lower fears about infection from Covid, versus last year’s Omicron-hit festive season. 

Shopper numbers were still about 9 per cent down on pre-pandemic levels last week but that compared with 11 per cent the previous week.