Black Friday is traditionally the starting shot for Christmas shopping.

And this year, new records are expected to be broken when the Swedes click home packages online.

According to Postnord's latest quarterly analysis, this year's online Christmas trade is estimated to have sales of SEK 10.6 billion, which corresponds to an increase of 26 percent compared with last year.

- Christmas gift shopping online will break new records, we can say that with great certainty.

The move to the net, from the physical Christmas gift shop, is enormous.

This is the same effect that we have generally seen in retail in 2020, due to the pandemic, says Carl-Fredrik Teder, retail analyst at Postnord.

Tar in extra staff

To cope with this year's deliveries, Postnord has increased its staff by more than 3,000 extra employees.

The number of agents has also increased, as have the delivery time windows and the opening hours of the drop-off points.

This is done partly to meet the increased pressure but also to deal with the effects of the pandemic, according to Peter Hesslin, head of e-commerce and logistics at Postnord Sweden.

According to him, there is nothing to indicate that the Christmas deliveries, which begin with the Black Friday sale, will not catch up.

- I do not feel so worried about it.

We have been going through Black Friday for many years and we learn every time.

In all probability, some deliveries can take a few extra days to complete, but it depends on the entire stage, from the time the product is packed until it is delivered.

But we have good control over our networks, he says.

Avoid picking up packages in rush hour

According to Peter Hesslin, extra measures are also being taken at the delivery points to prevent the spread of infection.

- These are the same restrictions that apply in the rest of society, and we are very careful to point this out.

Then the agents, in turn, have a very good grasp of what applies.

But if you can avoid picking up packages during rush hour after work, you should do so.

Then it is important to prepare so that the handling is as fast as possible, he says.