The Best Delivery Services for Christmas Sellers: Ensuring Your Gifts Arrive on Time

Discover the best UK delivery services for Christmas gift sellers, from Royal Mail to DPD and Evri. Ensure your festive parcels arrive safely and on time this Christmas season.

If you’re selling Christmas gifts this year, whether through your own website, Etsy shop, Amazon store, or a local market, your delivery choices can make or break the festive season. 

Customers expect reliability, speed, and fair pricing, especially when buying gifts that must arrive before Christmas morning. 

Here’s a look at the top delivery services UK sellers should consider when sending out their Christmas orders.

1. Royal Mail – The Christmas Classic

Still the backbone of British post, Royal Mail remains a top choice for small and medium-sized sellers. 

Their Tracked 24 and 48 services offer affordable options with online tracking and proof of delivery. For smaller parcels, Royal Mail 1st and 2nd Class are cost-effective and can be dropped off easily at local Post Offices.

Best for: Small parcels, handmade gifts, cards, and lightweight products.

Tip: Post early—Royal Mail’s Christmas deadlines usually fall around 18–20 December for 1st Class.

2. Evri (formerly Hermes) – Affordable and Accessible

Evri has improved significantly in recent years, offering a strong balance between price and convenience. They provide home collection or drop-off at thousands of parcel shops across the UK. Tracking is included as standard, and delivery times are typically 2–3 days.

Best for: Sellers needing affordable delivery on a tight budget.

Tip: Keep packaging strong—Evri’s network handles a huge number of parcels at Christmas, and sturdy packaging helps protect your items.

3. DPD – The Premium Choice

Known for its one-hour delivery window notifications and excellent tracking, DPD is a favourite among professional online retailers. Their app also allows recipients to rearrange delivery or choose a safe place—ideal during busy December weeks when customers might not be home.

Best for: High-value, fragile, or time-sensitive gifts.

Tip: Offer DPD as an express upgrade for customers who need guaranteed delivery before Christmas Eve.

4. UPS and FedEx – For International Sellers

If you ship Christmas gifts abroad, UPS and FedEx are the best-known options for fast, trackable international delivery. Both offer comprehensive online booking, customs support, and parcel insurance.

Best for: International or business-to-business sales.

Tip: Remember to send international parcels by early December to avoid customs delays.

5. Parcelforce Worldwide – For Large or Bulky Parcels

For sellers dealing in hampers, artwork, or heavier items, Parcelforce (part of Royal Mail) offers a great range of next-day and two-day services within the UK. Their international delivery options are also reliable, with customs support built in.

Best for: Larger or multi-item Christmas gifts.

Tip: Check Parcelforce’s volume-based pricing, it may save you money if you ship in bulk.

6. Amazon Logistics – For Marketplace Sellers

If you sell through Amazon, their Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) or Merchant Fulfilled Network (MFN) options use Amazon Logistics, which guarantees Prime-eligible next-day delivery on many items.

Best for: Sellers already listing on Amazon or using Amazon warehouses.

Tip: Keep an eye on cut-off dates for FBA stock delivery, usually around late November for guaranteed pre-Christmas fulfilment.

7. Local Courier Services – A Personal Touch

For regional sellers or those offering local delivery (such as Christmas hampers, wreaths, or fresh produce), local courier companies or same-day delivery apps like Deliveroo Hop, Stuart, or Yodel Direct can provide that last-mile personal touch.

Best for: Local independent businesses and last-minute gift deliveries.

Tip: Offer same-day or next-day local delivery as a premium add-on for customers in your area.

8. Click & Collect Partnerships

If you sell through platforms like eBay, Etsy, or Shopify, consider enabling click and collect through partners such as InPost Lockers, Collect+, or Yodel Direct. This lets customers pick up parcels at local supermarkets, petrol stations, or convenience stores—perfect for busy shoppers.

Best for: Customers who can’t wait in for deliveries.

Tip: Advertise this as a “stress-free collection” option on your website.

Final Thoughts: Choose Delivery That Matches Your Brand

Your delivery service says as much about your business as your products do. Reliable, well-packaged, and on-time deliveries lead to glowing reviews and repeat customers. 

Consider offering a range of delivery options, budget, standard, and express, to suit different needs and budgets.

And don’t forget: communicate clearly about last order dates and Christmas delivery cut-offs across your website and social channels. Transparency now can prevent disappointment later.

Post-Christmas returns fall slightly, but £1.4bn worth of items are still winging back to retailers

‘Takeback Tuesday’ returns decreased by around 6% yesterday compared to last year, says ParcelHero. Despite the fall, around £1.41bn worth of items are now heading back to retailers, which could prove the final straw for some hard-pressed retailers.

Post-Christmas returns for the first working day of the year were down by around 6% on the same day last year, says ParcelHero. Despite this dip, it says around £1.41bn worth of items are now winging their way back to retailers. The home delivery expert cautions that the fall in returns is likely due to lower Christmas spending rather than a change in customer habits.

ParcelHero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks M.I.L.T., says: ‘We’ve looked at our own returns volumes and spoken to people in the courier and retail industries and it looks like there was a small but distinct drop in the volume and value of returns on “Takeback Tuesday” yesterday, compared to record returns last year.

‘Last year, around £1.5bn of unwanted gifts and goods were returned in the first week after the Christmas and New Year break. This year, we’ve seen a slight dip in returns volumes and, looking at the types of items being returned, we’re estimating around £1.41bn of clothing, electrical goods and toys are now winging their way back to retailers. The number of courier bookings for returned items peaked at 10am yesterday as people returned to the post-Christmas daily grind. The Royal Mail says Takeback Tuesday returns were up around 52% on a typical day last month and that certainly chimes with our own figures.  

‘We’d love to say the slight drop in the number of Takeback Tuesday returns is because shoppers are becoming more aware of the environmental impact of returns and the financial strains they place on many much-loved, smaller, specialist retailers.

"But it’s more likely the slight fall reflects what we suspect was a relatively lacklustre Christmas period for retailers, with online and in-store sales looking relatively flat. Fewer gifts equals fewer returns. Barclays says card transaction volumes on Black Friday 2023 were down -0.6% compared with 2022 and The Guardian reports that pre-Christmas “super weekend” sales fell by up to -32% online and -4.5% overall."

He added: "Our recent industry report shows that returns are costing UK sellers around £60bn a year. The study reveals a large chunk of these returns happen in the post-Christmas period. Around 47% of all ParcelHero shipments were marked as “returns” in the first week of last year.

"Online businesses face a no-win choice between reluctantly swallowing returns costs or risking negative online reviews from those customers with returns issues. 81% of stores say they are very concerned by increasing levels of customer returns. Smaller, specialist online retailers who thought they had enjoyed healthy Christmas sales are now facing plunging margins and warehouses filling with unsaleable stock as January returns come rolling back in.

"Customer expectations and the financial realities for smaller e-commerce sites are increasingly at odds. Some online retailers have told us that they deal with return rates as high as 60% after Christmas, with most being accepted unconditionally in order to maintain their all-important five-star ratings. These returns are being accepted despite the fact that online orders cost retailers £3 more to process than physical sales.

For more information on the full impact of returns on retailers large and small, don’t miss ParcelHero’s report,“ Retailers Reach the Point of No Returns” at https://www.parcelhero.com/content/downloads/pdfs/returns/returnwhitepaper.pdf

(Image courtesy of Mohammed Salem from Pixabay)