It is the last straight line for the delivery of packages before the opening of the gifts.

On Euroe 1, Colissimo's general manager, Xavier Mallet, assures us on Monday morning that deliveries will take place "before Christmas".

The end of the year holidays are approaching and there is growing concern: will we receive our parcels in time to be able to slip them under the tree?

The managing director of Colissimo, Xavier Mallet, was invited on Monday morning in the morning of Europe 1 to answer all questions about last-minute gift deliveries.

The CEO of Colissimo wants to be reassuring.

If you ordered your presents before the end of the weekend which has just ended, "they will be delivered before Christmas" he assures us.

"We are mobilizing for that. I even tell you that all the packages that will be given to us by this (Monday) evening will be delivered before Christmas", he insists.

The explosion of online orders

However, this year, the mission promises to be slightly more complicated than usual.

With the second lockdown due to the coronavirus, many French people have opted for Christmas preparations online.

"We must deliver up to 4 million Colissimo every day," says Xavier Mallet.

Last year, it was "3 million packages" a day during the holidays that had to be delivered.

By way of comparison, in a "normal" day according to him, there are not more than a million Colissimo that are delivered.

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"During the first confinement, we felt an acceleration in the e-commerce market, even if it was already growing each year by around 8% to 10%", reports the CEO of Colissimo.

"There, it went rather to 30% growth in a structural way (...) At the end of October, this figure rose to 50% or even 60% certain weeks".

"9,000 reinforcements during these end of year celebrations"

So, to be sure that everyone receives their gifts under the tree, you need arms.

Added to the "100,000 mobilized postal workers", Colissimo has hired on a fixed-term or temporary basis "9,000 reinforcements during this end of the year".

"Compared to the fall in our mail activity, the parcel is a great opportunity for us to make these jobs permanent", adds Xavier Mallet.

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So there are only a few hours left to order the last gifts.

Latecomers will be able to turn to small shops, which, "fortunately, according to the director of Colissimo, were able to open to help us serve all of our customers".