Royal Mail reveals Black Friday online hotspots

Royal Mail has revealed the top ten towns and cities across the UK where the most online shopping took place during Black Friday, November 27, based on an analysis of parcels accepted from retailers and businesses into its network.

Top of the online shopping hotspots was Norwich, followed by Dorchester, Exeter, Bournemouth, and Swansea, according to Royal Mail’s data analysing items accepted from online retailers and e-commerce businesses for delivery via the Royal Mail Tracked 24 and Royal Mail Tracked 48 services.

Nick Landon, head of Royal Mail Parcels, said: “Last weekend a huge volume of online purchases were picked, packed and shipped by retailers around the country. And today, thousands of shoppers around the UK will be receiving their Black Friday purchases.

“Bargain hunters in Norwich top the list of this year’s biggest Black Friday online shoppers. We know there are more parcels still to come, but as of today more addresses in Norwich are set to welcome a Black Friday purchase than anywhere else in the UK.”

Rounding off the top 10 online hotspots were: Aberdeen, Torquay, Inverness, Taunton and Lancaster.

To support the influx of online shopping this festive period, Royal Mail has opened ten dedicated parcel sort centres, recruited an additional 19,000 temporary staff and added 6,800 extra vehicles to support the Christmas operation.