Retail giants ramp up Christmas deliveries for late shoppers

Last-minute Christmas shoppers will be able to order gifts online as late as the eve of Christmas Eve as retail giants ramp up local deliveries.

Amazon Australia revealed its extended Christmas delivery window on Monday that would apply shoppers near most major cities.

The announcement came the same day as Australia Post closed guaranteed Christmas deliveries for items sent by standard post and amid warnings some customers would only have until Wednesday to send gifts by Express Post.

It follows another bumper year for online shopping in Australia, with figures showing the trend jumped by another 12 per cent despite a sharp rise over the past two years.

Amazon Australia operations director Mindy Espidio-Garcia confirmed consumers in some cities would be able to order gifts two days before Christmas after investments in its “delivery network”.

“This year we are pleased to offer most Australians the ability to purchase and receive gifts with us through the week of Christmas,” she said.

“However, the golden rule is always to confirm the estimated delivery date for your order before you check out.”

Amazon customers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, Canberra, Newcastle and Wollongong would be able to use the offer, Ms Espidio-Garcia said.

Customers in Perth would have to finalise their orders for Christmas deliveries by December 21.

Amazon Brisbane leader Adam Pretorius said the company had hired an extra 2000 staff in Australia to deal with orders over the

Christmas period and its Brisbane warehouse was dispatching 30,000 packages a day and filling between 15 to 20 trucks.

“Black Friday and Cyber Monday is when it starts and then the rush is sustained through until Christmas,” he said.

The company’s Brisbane warehouse, one of 10 logistics sites in Australia, housed two million of the 125 million products the company stocked in Australia and Mr Pretorius said the products could be transferred quickly through its network.

Online purchases from rival marketplace eBay will have stricter Christmas deadlines, however, with a spokeswoman revealing shoppers could expect festive deliveries by standard post if ordered by this Thursday or by Express Post if ordered by December 19.

Its deadlines were similar to Australia Post, which warned online shoppers in Western Australia and the Northern Territory would need to meet an earlier Christmas cut-off for Express Post deliveries this Wednesday, while customers in other states could order items until December 19.

“The earlier you can get it done the better to ensure all parcels make it under your Christmas tree on time,” Australia Post customer and commercial executive general manager Gary Starr said.

Online shopping grew by more than 12.6 per cent over the past year following a boom since 2020, according to IBISWorld, and now represented a $52.7 billion market.

The Australian Retailers Association predicted Australians would spend a record $66 billion between November and December, up 6.4 per cent on 2021.

With news from AAP.