Christmas delivery delays forecast: Worst suburbs for parcels revealed
Christmas shoppers face delivery roulette as data exposes the unexpected suburbs where one in ten parcels arrives late during the festive rush. SEE THE LIST
Several inner city suburbs across state capitals are expected to see the highest delays in parcel deliveries during the Christmas period, surprising new data has revealed.
eCommerce delivery platform Shippit, which is used by retailers including Kmart, Myer and Big W, has analysed shipping times for more than tens of millions of parcels delivered by Australia Post, DHL and other carriers over the past 11 months.
In capital cities, areas hit hardest by delays included outer suburbs, but many postcodes close to the inner city also made the top 10.
Melbourne’s St Kilda Road precinct, just south of its CBD, was one of the city’s suburbs with the most delays, with 7 per cent of parcels coming late, similar to St Kilda and Abbotsford.
In Sydney, the worst affected suburb was only 20 minutes from its CBD, in Tempe, where almost 10 per cent of parcels were delayed, while Lewisham in the inner west also had about 7 per cent of its deliveries delayed.
Parramatta had also seen 8.17 per cent of its parcels delayed.
Brisbane’s Chermside was one of the Queensland capital’s most impacted suburbs, with 8.43 per cent of parcels delayed.
In Adelaide, Modbury and Glenelg, about 20 minutes from the CBD, had about 8 per cent of parcels delayed.
Shippit co-founder Rob Hango-Zada said inner city areas weren’t immune to delays, because they’re “some of the hardest places for drivers to operate”.
“There may be unique circumstances in each of these locations, but generally the city has higher congestion, limited parking and loading zones and lots of high rise apartment buildings,” he said.
“All of these factors can slow down a delivery.”
He added many retailers were moving towards shipping from local stores instead of centralised warehouses, to improve their delivery speed and reliability.
Across Australia, the worst affected areas for parcel delays were regional and rural, particularly in WA- including Baynton and Nickol in Karratha, where more than 27 per cent of deliveries dragged out.
Mr Hango-Zada noted “so much stock is held on the east coast, creating longer transit routes and more room for delays”.
Regional Queensland areas also featured, including Cloncurry, 120km east of Mt Isa, and Bowen, where about 18.9 per cent of parcels were delayed.
NSW coastal town Coffs Harbour was also ranked as one of the worst affected areas, with about 13.85 per cent of packages being delayed.
Shippit noted national deliveries had improved – with a parcel taking an average 1.7 days to reach its destination, compared to 3.7 days in 2022.
Meanwhile, the best served suburbs nationally mostly appeared to be in South Australia.
“South Australia has a comparatively small population, which means the peak volumes that often impact reliability aren’t as impactful as they are in other states,” Mr Hango-Zada said.
“Carriers invested heavily post-Covid, and the demand to certain locations hasn’t met the capacity yet.
“The state also has a compact footprint and relatively streamlined transport networks, which supports quicker, more reliable deliveries.”
But, Mr Hango-Zada did reveal it wasn’t too late to buy Christmas presents online.
He recommended making online purchases by December 15 for standard delivery or December 18 for express, but metro customers could even wait until the days before for priority and on-demand shipping.
“With Christmas landing on a Thursday this year and more retailers leveraging solutions like Uber and Doordash, if you live in a metro area you can take advantage of last minute gift buying,” he said.
“Ordering on Christmas Eve and receiving it before Christmas is now a possibility.”
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Originally published as Christmas delivery delays forecast: Worst suburbs for parcels revealed
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