La Poste to begin delivering parcels on Sundays

La Poste, which does not traditionally deliver parcels on the seventh day, has successfully been delivering on Sunday for the past year across large towns at peak times - such as at Christmas - in a partnership with e-commerce site Cdiscount.

La Poste is now set to roll out the scheme nationally through its subsidiary, Chronopost, according to reports in French newspaper Le Monde.

The exact details of the new service are only set to be revealed on September 14, but La Poste has already confirmed that it will focus on delivery of online shopping parcels, and that the Sunday delivery has come about because of the recent growth in online commerce.

“Chronopost has decided to deliver on Sundays because the market is rapidly growing in France,” said a source from La Poste, also in Le Monde.

Over 80% of French internet users are said to shop online, and French consumers spent €72 billion on online shopping in 2016, a rise of 14,6% in comparison to 2015, according to figures from the Federation of E-Commerce and Distance Sales (Fédération du e-commerce et de la vente à distance).