E-commerce has exploded. Pernille (29) would rather support local stores, but now she buys online weekly.

Online shopping has increased considerably during the pandemic. Now more packages are delivered than ever, also at the flower shop.

It’s busy at the receiving end of the relatively long parcel queue at the Rema 1000 store on St. Hanshaugen in Oslo. Boxes large and small disappear from the fully loaded mail box like hot wheat bread.

– Actually we are the resistance movement to what we are doing now. This goes against everything we believe in, laughs Pernille Falk Flesvik (29) with a pack in each arm.

Before the corona pandemic, she and her husband Lasse Falk Flesvik (30) rarely shopped online. Now he queues weekly to pick up packages with items he has ordered.

– We really like shopping and have been a bit against online shopping from the beginning. But now I think there are too many people, and I avoid the stores as much as I can, says Pernille and smiles apologetically.

– We have bought all the Christmas gifts online this year, now.

Posten: – We are talking about large volumes

Many have done it as a couple from Oslo this year. After the country’s shutdown in March, e-commerce soared.

Figures provided by Norway Post to NRK at the end of October showed a large increase in packages sent in 2020 compared to last year:

• E-commerce packages have grown 41 percent
• Packages delivered to the mailbox have grown by 83 percent
• Packages delivered to the door have had a growth of 230 percent

Posten press manager Kenneth Pettersen notes that the package campaign has increased even further after the “Black Friday” sales day in November.

– In just one week during “Black Week”, we delivered two million packages. So we are talking about large volumes, he says.

Pettersen says there is a potential to triple the number of packages in the mailbox this year and quadruple the packages delivered to your door.

– Now these coronary restrictions have lasted so long that people have changed their habits. Those who used to shop online now do more. Also, he thinks there have been many new ones.

Increase more in Oslo

E-commerce is the fastest growing in Oslo, according to figures from the Klarna payment service, which is used by more than 7,100 Norwegian online stores.

In a recent poll conducted by Klarna by YouGov, up to 1 in 3 Norwegians claim they will buy more online during the Black Week period and Christmas shopping, due to the corona pandemic.

In the first two days of “Black Week” alone, we bought 97 percent more than last year.

At many delivery points, capacity has been exhausted. More than 30 stores have had to reject pallets with packages in recent days, according to Postnord, reports the Ehandel website.

Post to Plant Shop: – Post has changed

It’s not just online stores that are benefiting from the flood of digital orders.

Amid the landscape of green plants at the Rose Blomsterbutikk facility, a brown package rises in front of the counter.

Many of those who receive a message from the US courier company UPS have probably been surprised to see that the package will be picked up at the small Kværnerbyen flower shop in Oslo.

Antonija Barisa, who has run the independent flower shop for six years, says there have been more packages in the year of the pandemic than before.

– How does the delivery of packages at the florist affect your billing?

– More people are coming. Some of those who come to pick up packages also buy vases or flowers, he says.

UPS has deliveries to a dozen locations in Oslo, several of them at smaller kiosks and grocery stores. Barisa has had an agreement with the parcel giant for the past two years.

– I came up with the idea because I know the post has changed. I worked in a mail order grocery store before and got familiar with the UPS scheme, he says.

The store manager confirms that UPS pays him to receive the package, but does not want to say how much. She believes that parcel delivery is a good side business. A maximum of 70 packages can arrive in one day. There are potentially 70 clients in the small sole proprietorship.

– For me, this is free marketing and an opportunity to increase sales, says Barisa.

Ask people to rush to pick up the packages

For the couple Pernille (29) and Lasse (30) Falk Flesvik, online shopping has a dislike, because they really want to support local stores. But for infection control reasons, they avoid stores.

– Aren’t there often long lines and a lot of people at parcel deliveries?

– Yes, especially right after business hours. But we try to pick up later in the evening from Monday to Friday. Right now there was something in this package that I had to have today, so there was no way out, says Pernille in the packet queue Saturday afternoon.

Kenneth Pettersen at Norway Post confirms they receive reports of long lines at delivery points.

– We strongly advise people to pick up the packages as soon as they receive the pickup message. There is also a feature in the app where you can go in and see when there are few people in the store. It’s usually early in the morning or late at night, he says.

– Have you thought about putting extra measures in the busiest delivery points, so that there are not too many people at the same time?

– We are very careful to ensure that the measures we have are implemented. And they have worked well. That is where the focus is today. This is an interaction, if we want to get out of the pandemic, says Pettersen.