Courier deliveries see an upward trend during Black Friday and holiday season and this year makes no exception. One of the local courier companies, Cargus, for instance, recorded increasing weekly volumes of deliveries made in November, about 32% higher compared to October weekly averages. The evolution was mainly determined by the Black Friday campaigns carried out in the e-commerce segment. An important trend is that the discount period is no longer focused on a specific day or weekend, but extends over a period of several weeks, starting from the very beginning of the month.
Significant increases are also expected for December, characterized by consumers’ drive for shopping in anticipation of the holiday period.
“Like every year, Cargus managed the high delivery volume by organizing logistics hubs, training employees and relying on resilient couriers who worked hard to meet estimated delivery times. We are currently preparing for the winter holidays, which are expected to bring a significant increase in demand. We anticipate continued growth, driven by high demand and promotional campaigns, for which we are preparing and focusing, with the objective of providing quality services and deliveries within the estimated and assumed intervals“, said Șerban Stoica, Chief Sales Officer at Cargus.
The peak period in November was recorded in the week following the main Black Friday campaigns. The weekly average was 50% higher than the October average and the peak day brought in double the volume of a normal day.
What type of products did Romanian customers choose?
Consumer preferences during this Black Friday season leaned heavily towards home electronics, particularly those catering to cooking, such as microwave ovens and air fryers. These trends underscore a growing consumer focus on healthier lifestyles. Coffee machines and TVs also ranked among the top-selling items.
As a first, unlike previous years, where packages under two kilograms were predominant, Black Friday 2024 brought an increasing number of medium and large packages.
In November, the number of Cargus couriers was increased by 20%, enabling them to travel over 4 million kilometres, across approximately 50.000 routes. The company has increased the number of transport routes by 40%. The customers who received the parcels are mainly from Bucharest, Cluj, Timisoara, Constanta and Brasov.
Cargus also offers the SHIP&GO delivery option, through which customers can direct parcels to one of over 2,000 collection points and lockers.