Parcel courier Evri has reported its busiest Christmas yet after delivering more than 150 million parcels over nine weeks.

The company said households left Christmas shopping late as they waited for last-minute discounts because of the continued strain on family finances.

Evri, formerly called Hermes, saw a 21 % increase in deliveries in the final week before Christmas compared to the same week in 2022. In contrast, it delivered fewer parcels around Black Friday in November because nervous consumers held off on spending.

The company faced extra pressure last year when post office workers went on strike. Shoppers flocked to the high street because they were worried about late deliveries.

But this year, customers rushed to buy with 'strong demand' for goods from Chinese sites Shein and Temu.

Royal Mail also achieved its best Christmas performance for four years. 

In November 2023, the Post Office announced a partnership with Evri and DPD for a new in-branch delivery service.

Group revenues were up by 9.8% on the previous year, with Royal Mail winning back customers following last year's industrial action.

Martin Seidenberg, Chief Executive Officer of IDS (International Distributions Service) plc, said: "I would like to thank all my colleagues across Royal Mail and GLS for their extraordinary efforts delivering Christmas for our customers. This has led to a marked improvement in both trading and operational performance for Royal Mail over Christmas and we have continued to win back customers. We need to build on this momentum.

"With Ofcom due to publish options for the future of the Universal Service imminently, now is the time for urgent action. We are doing all we can to transform, but it is simply not sustainable to maintain a delivery network built for 20 billion letters when we are now only delivering seven billion."

Total parcel volumes increased by 21% and revenues increased by 14.4% in Q3 as Royal Mail won back customers lost during industrial action.

Letter revenues increased by 11.8% as a result of price increases, but costs continue to rise as a result of inflation, pay awards and the high fixed costs of delivering the Universal Service

The government has stated it will oppose Royal Mail's plans to scrap Saturday letter deliveries, as the regulator assesses the possibility of cuts to the postal service.

Ofcom, the communications industry regulator, is expected to publish a series of options for the future of the postal service when the results of a five-month-long review are published this week.

The prime minister's representative said: "Obviously Ofcom has a role here and is reviewing the future of Royal Mail.

"But the prime minister's strong view is that Saturday deliveries provide flexibility and convenience that are important for businesses and particularly publishers and the prime minister would not countenance seeing Saturday deliveries scrapped.

"So, I think we'll see exactly what the outcomes are. But given the importance of these deliveries, particularly to businesses, it's not something we would countenance."

Ofcom said cutting Saturdays could save Royal Mail £125m to £225m a year. Its proposals could also include changing first- and second-class delivery targets, higher stamp prices, and even alternate-day deliveries. Such changes would require an update to the Postal Services Act 2011.

Royal Mail has long argued that delivering the six-day service in its current form is unsustainable.