As people continue to shop online, shipping is still affected by pandemic delays
Restrictions and lack of resources mean some customers have had to wait months for their packages
By Jacob Van Luven
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadians are shopping online 110 per cent more often.
The surge set records in March last year when Statistics Canada announced e-commerce sales hit a record $3.9 billion.
However due to a multitude of reasons, the online shopping experience is slower and less reliable right now.
Nick Brammer, owner of an online second-hand clothing shop Grievance, explained how the closure of his local post office affected his business. “It was super close to my house and significantly cheaper. My [new] post office’s front desk closed, so I now have to get someone to print shipping labels and pick them up everytime.”
Brammer says that something as simple as printing a label which used to take ten minutes, now takes days to accomplish.
Customers have also experienced lengthy shipping delays. For example, Amazon Prime deliveries before global lockdown took between one or two days. Now some prime deliveries are five days on the lower end, and as long as a month for some items.
Two-month wait
Matt Gordon, an Amazon Prime member, explained how he waited two-months for a diffuser that he ordered through the site.
“It kept telling me that it had arrived until two months passed and it finally showed up at my door.”
Despite the wait, Gordon plans on continuing shopping through Amazon because “they have everything.”
Even people who send the odd package have experienced some kind of delay. This is the case for Sherrie Budai, who had shipped a Christmas gift to Japan but took nearly three-months to arrive.
“They did tell me it would arrive after Christmas but probably January but it didn’t show up until the end of February.”
Whether you frequently online shop or not, you have likely experienced some sort of shipping delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wait times remain the same but the incoming vaccine rollout may help the process return to normal.
Watch Sherrie and Matt’s stories here:
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