APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) -A record number of people shopped online this year, because of the coronavirus pandemic. Just on Cyber Monday, holiday shoppers went online and spent nearly $11 billion.
The kickoff to the holiday shopping season, shattering records, will be followed by days of unprecedented holiday shipping.
“A day like that looks like us getting here in the morning, and trying to get everything open and have people lined outside the door, waiting to get in,” general manager for the UPS Store in Appleton, Bobbi Stern explained.”
More people cyber shopping, means more packages will have to be shipped out. For shipping service retailers, like the UPS Store, Stern says this is nothing new.
“We saw that at the beginning, when COVID hit. We were seeing an influx of returns – people were stay at home, so what were they doing? They were online ordering, and sometimes not making good choices with those online orderings, so they were returning a lot.”
Delivery services, including the U.S. Postal Service and UPS, know they’re looking at a busy holiday season. That’s putting some stress on those companies and shipping service stores, alike, to get going and kick it into high-gear.
“It’s just getting our employees prepared for that; prepared to deal with the influx of phone calls – ‘where’s my package?’- people returning things,” said Stern. “You kinda just get in the spirit, and get in the mode, and you get yourself ready for it. You just do it.”
At the Appleton UPS Store, hearing the ding of a bell each time someone enters the store, nonstop, is nothing new.
“We hear it in our sleep!” Stern tells FOX 11.
“You go home, and you sleep, and you hear that bell because, between the phone and the door, it’s constant.”
The UPS Stores and UPS are different entities, entirely. But the UPS Store knows how busy delivery drivers are, firsthand, because it plays a huge role in keeping them on the road.
“It’s an incredible amount of volume this time of year,” said Stern. “We’re floor to ceiling, and it stretches out to the hallway here, so we do our best to pack it tight and tall, and safe for the driver when he gets here.”
FOX 11 reached out to UPS for comment but, in an email, its media relations representative said this is the company’s busiest time of year and no one is available to talk, as they are focusing on getting packages delivered.
Delivery services advise getting your packages shipped ASAP, if you want to ensure they make it to their final destinations in time.
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