UK parcel delivery company Yodel moved over 5 million parcels last week, a week that included Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Between Thursday 26th November and Wednesday 2nd December it moved 5,098,559 parcels through the fire sale spike in demand across the UK.

The company reported that despite it being the busiest week it had ever had, service levels were also the highest they had ever achieved. 86% of customers reported that they had had a positive delivery experience compared to this time last year when the company, deluged with an unexpected rush of deliveries, had a low of 73% customer satisfaction and a national delivery company average of 78%.

The company claims that the success was down to its close relationships with its clients. It had asked for detailed forecasts of delivery expectations and it seems that the retailers have done this, and accurately. The negotiations included a limit on the number of parcels that clients would give to Yodel on each day and limits on Next Day delivery.

Yodel has invested heavily in delivery capacity over the last 12 months, as it invested £30 million in its delivery network to extend capacity for a business that many industry insiders say has yet to reach full maturity, and thereby will be growing for quite some time to come. The investment went into sortation machines and automated conveyors as well as larger, more efficient ‘super hubs’ around the UK. 7,000 new staff have also been brought into the company across the full range of its operations.

Yodel’s executive chairman, Dick Stead said, “We wanted this year’s festive peak to start smoothly and it undoubtedly has. Everyone’s worked incredibly hard to deliver for our clients and for the consumers who shopped online. Firmly agreeing volumes with retailers in advance of Black Friday and Cyber Monday was the right thing to do. We only accepted what we were equipped to deliver, which means everyone from staff to shoppers are happy.