Royal Mail reveals the top ten areas where shoppers made the most online purchases over the course of Black Friday weekend this year. Savvy shoppers in Shetland Islands top the list of the UK's top buyers in the biggest cyber shopping event of the year, followed by Kirkwall, Hebrides, Central London and North West London.

Central London tops the England list, Shetland Islands the Scotland list, Llandrindod Wells the Wales list and Strabane the Northern Ireland list.

This year, rural and remote locations dominate the top ten list*. For many of these customers, online shopping has become central to their way of life as they have negotiated the impacts of the pandemic. Royal Mail domestic parcel volumes are up around a third compared to pre-COVID levels.

Online purchases made during Black Friday weekend and beyond will continue to be distributed by retailers and delivered by Royal Mail over the coming days, depending on consumer preferences.

Nick Landon, Chief Commercial Officer at Royal Mail, said: 'We're proud to play such an important role in delivering Christmas. Given our unparalleled reach across the UK, we're uniquely placed to reveal the Black Friday weekend online shopping hotspots for 2021. Customers across the UK continue to put their trust in the knowledge, expertise and reassurance of the Royal Mail brand.'

Royal Mail delivering at Christmas:

Parcel Collect:

Royal Mail's Parcel Collect service is a convenient way to send parcels or returns this Christmas. With this service, postmen and postwomen collect parcels and returns from customers while they carry out their daily round. As well as offering even higher levels of convenience, the move enables online sellers and online shoppers to mail or return a pre-paid item by post from the comfort of their own home. Royal Mail's Parcel Postboxes are another option for sending parcels or return items.

Shop Early and Post Early for Christmas:

Royal Mail is encouraging customers to order their online gifts and shopping well in advance, and to post their festive greetings early, to help its postmen and women deliver the bumper festive mailbag. Its latest recommended posting dates for mail to arrive in time for Christmas are:

UK latest recommended posting dates for Christmas 2021 are:

Saturday 18 December

2nd Class

2nd Class Signed For

Royal Mail 48

Tuesday 21 December

1st Class

1st Class Signed For

Royal Mail 24

Thursday 23 December

Special Delivery Guaranteed

Further information is available at www.royalmail.com/greetings

Note to editors

The top ten online shopping hotspots are based on analysis of parcels accepted into the Royal Mail network between 25 and 29 November**. Items were accepted from online retailers and ecommerce businesses for delivery via Royal Mail's Tracked 24 and Royal Mail Tracked 48 services.

This is based on the average number of items delivered to each delivery point in a postcode area. The Northern Ireland results are based on locations where each parent delivery office is located.

Top 10 UK hotspots:

1. Shetland Islands

2. Kirkwall

3. Hebrides

4. Central London

5. North West London

6. Inverness

7. Redhill

8. Guildford

9. Kingston-upon-Thames

10. Uxbridge

Top 5 England hotspots:

1. Central London

2. North West London

3. Redhill

4. Guildford

5. Kingston-upon-Thames

Top 5 Scotland hotspots:

1. Shetland Islands

2. Kirkwall

3. Hebrides

4. Inverness

5. Paisley

Top 5 Wales hotspots:

1. Llandrindod Wells

2. Swansea

3. Llandudno

4. Cardiff

5. Newport

Top 5 Northern Ireland hotspots:

1. Strabane

2. Newry

3. Cookstown

4. Enniskillen

5. Omagh

About Royal Mail plc

The Group consists of two principal operations; our UK-based operation which includes Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide (Royal Mail) and our international operation, General Logistics Systems (GLS). Royal Mail is the leading provider of postal and delivery services in the UK and the UK's designated universal postal service provider. Through the Royal Mail Core Network, the company delivers a one-price-goes-anywhere service on a range of parcels and letters products. Royal Mail has the capability to deliver to more than 31 million addresses in the UK, six days a week (excluding UK public holidays). Parcelforce Worldwide operates a separate UK network which collects and delivers express parcels. General Logistics Systems (GLS) operates one of the largest ground-based, deferred parcel delivery networks in Europe.

Contact:

Jasmin Prichard

Royal Mail press office

Email: jasmin.prichard@royalmail.com

(C) 2021 Electronic News Publishing, source ENP Newswire