Christmas stamp sales are up 4% on last year at Irish An Post. Revenues for stamps are already up 5% – the first such increase at the postal operator in 10 years.

An Post say that this early success has come thanks to it repositioning its mail business with new products and improved distribution and increased marketing activity through more post offices and a new online shop at anpost.com/Christmas

The postal operator admits that it is very early to say that things have improved, though it points out that typically it sees 8-10% volume falls every year so this goes against current trends.

According to Fiona Heffernan, Commercial Director of Mail at An Post: “We’ve taken a new approach to Christmas this year, welcomed our customers’ involvement in designing stamps around their favourite Christmas traditions and we’ve added a new Elf on the Shelf product which has been selling strongly since early November.

“Our new Christmas ads features real Irish people who won’t be spending Christmas with family this year, sending personal messages to their loved ones, and reinforcing the importance of sending personal cards and parcels to loved ones near and far”, she added.

“We’ve brought energy and fun to Christmas this year underpinned by the transformation of the An Post mail business.  Recent reports say overall Irish consumer spend will be up 3% this Christmas so we’re delighted that stamp sales are outpacing this, with three weeks still to go,” Heffernan concluded.