Royal Mail postal strikes: Small business help and advice

Royal mail workers are due to hold strike action in the coming months over disputes with pay and conditions, following a number of strike days earlier in 2022. The CWU union and Royal Mail strikes are currently due to take place on the below dates*: 

• Tuesday 15th November  
• Wednesday 16th November  
• Thursday 24th November 
• Wednesday 23rd November  
• Friday 25th November (Black Friday) 
• Wednesday 30th November  
• Thursday 1st December  
• Friday 2nd December  

With these strikes set to fall over Black Friday and in the busy lead up to Christmas, any small businesses or SMEs using Royal Mail delivery services to fulfil their online orders will need to prepare and plan to avoid disappointed customers resulting from the postal strikes.  

How do postal strikes impact small businesses?

• Royal Mail Drop and Go customers will experience delivery delays  
• You’ll still be able to drop your parcels and letters to a Royal Mail Post Office or a post box, however delivery times will be longer than usual  
• The postal strike only affects Royal Mail and Parcelforce. Other parcel services such as Yodel, Evri and DPD are still running as usual.  
• No letters will be delivered during the strike days unless they are sent with Royal Mail Special Delivery or Tracked24, and Royal Mail will do all they can to get these delivered on time  
• Whilst different areas of Royal Mail will strike on different days, it’s useful to bear in mind that all services will be disrupted and delays will be experienced through the entire period over the postal strike days, as services stop and restart. 

Check out specific Royal Mail services near you for more information on options, local post office opening times and other local information that may have further advice and help for small business owners.  

What can your small business do to survive a postal strike  

1. Post your small business deliveries early 

It is recommended in general to post items as early as you can prior to the strikes, and avoid posting on or the day before strike days where possible.  

2. Extend promotions during postal strikes

A combination of postal strikes, the 2022 FIFA World Cup and changing consumer behaviour around Cyber Week means that promotional campaigns start as early as October to maintain consumer interest.  With this in mind, you can treat peak shopping season as a marathon instead of a sprint and stagger your promotions to support those concerned consumers who want to be extra sure that they’ll get their family gifts in time for Christmas. This will also take the pressure off you to fulfil a huge wave of Black Friday orders in one go over the postal strikes. For more support on planning for peak season, read our 5 expert insider tips for small businesses.  

3. Get creative with your delivery offers  

Get creative and make the postal strikes work for you. Switch up your usual ‘next day’ delivery offers to something more helpful to both you and the customer. For example, offering ‘free saver’ delivery for a lower spend threshold than usual may soften the blow of the potential delays and make new customers feel they are getting a great deal.   

4. Communicate clearly with customers  

You’ll need to communicate clearly with customers on adjusted delivery services and timings – don’t leave your customers guessing whether they’re affected by the mail strikes. Be clear with your promotional dates, last delivery dates and projected delivery times to keep customers as informed as possible and ordering in time. 

5. Use influencer marketing to counter sales loss  

Explore using influencers and affiliate marketing to counteract any nervousness around the postal strikes. With 49% of consumer purchases depending on influencer opinions, it is predicted that influencer campaigns will be more popular than ever and will support in maintaining a nice boost in sales after the excitement of Cyber Week and Christmas has died down. This kind of continual interest will remove the pressure on Cyber Week and the need to fulfil a spike in orders over the Royal Mail postal strikes. You can connect with vetted influencers, tap into their audiences and promote your products through them via affiliate programmes.

6. Plan for the future and develop a process  

Plan for future uncertainty, and start to think past the imminent postal strikes and to your plans as a small business into next year where wider economic factors affecting small business are set to continue. Having a program of varied and wide-reaching online marketing channels, such as affiliate marketing for small businesses, will allow you to spread out your promotions, reach new customers and help counteract any economic changes that you can’t foresee. This will create a steady flow of new customers finding your business through trusted online partnerships year round, not just for peak season.   

7. Look into Royal Mail delay compensation  

Whilst there are no guarantees around the strikes, if you are severely affected by delays then you can view the Royal Mail retail compensation policy which normally applies if your parcel is lost, damaged or delayed.  

8. Explore a business postal account  

If you send more than 20 parcels a week, you may be eligible for a Royal Mail business account which may help you track, manage and report on your deliveries and any delays more efficiently over this uncertain period.  

Prepare for postal strikes to reduce losses

With preparation and planning, small businesses can survive the Royal Mail postal strikes, avoid the severe effects of royal mail delivery delays, and keep their customers happy in the busiest retail period of the year.   

Economic changes out of your control can be a great time to think about and plan for the future stability of a small online business. If you’re interested in reaching new customers and making more money online, explore Awin Access, our product specially designed for small businesses.