Yodel prepares for Valentine’s volume boost

This article originally appeared on roadtransport.com.  See the full story here http://www.commercialmotor.com/latest-news/yodel-prepares-for-valentine-s-volume-boost

Yodel expects to handle twice its normal volume of flowers next week for Valentine’s Day (14 February), fuelled by the continuing shift by consumers to shopping online.

The parcels firm anticipates delivering 75,000 bouquets on the day itself, and in keeping with this change in habits counts internet delivery service Serenataflowers.com among its corporate clients.

This Christmas saw a parcel volume record, with a host of big names revealing to Commercialmotor.com sister title Motor Transport that deliveries were significantly ahead of last year, thanks to strong growth in internet shopping.

Hermes says it delivered 15 million items in December, representing a 40% increase, while Yodel itself hit the 20 million mark compared with 12.8 million in 2010. City Link and DHL Express also experienced an uplift.

Yodel chief executive Jonathan Smith says: “The difficult economic times don’t seem to be dampening our romantic nature.”