As South Africans prepare for another record-breaking Black Friday and festive shopping season, Fastway Couriers has announced that it is fully geared to manage the expected surge in parcel volumes to ensure that every delivery arrives safely, on time, and with one less thing for retailers and consumers to worry about.

According to the Online Retail in South Africa 2025 report by World Wide Worx, the country’s online retail market is projected to exceed R130 billion by the end of the year, representing nearly 10% of total retail sales. The Black Friday Index 2024 by Ecentric Payment Systems and World Wide Worx found that the four-day period from Black Friday to Cyber Monday accounted for 10.3% of total holiday transactions, up from 7.9% in 2023, highlighting the growing pressure on delivery networks to perform flawlessly during South Africa’s busiest trading window.

Fastway’s own parcel volumes have already increased by more than 33% year-on-year between August and October, signalling that 2025 is on track to be the company’s busiest festive season yet.

“Every year, we prepare months in advance for this period,” says Ivashni Manikkam, General Manager - National Operations at Fastway Couriers South Africa. “That means more drivers, extended operating hours, and additional support across our network. We even deliver to places Google Maps politely refuses to acknowledge exist.”

In preparation for Black Friday and festive deliveries, Fastway has extended operations to include Saturdays, Sundays, Christmas Eve, and public holidays (excluding Christmas Day and New Year’s Day). Additional vehicles and couriers have been deployed to manage higher parcel volumes, and operating hours have been expanded where required to ensure timely delivery.

“These operational enhancements mean that when order volumes rise, our capacity rises with them,” says Manikkam. “For our SME clients, reliability is the new currency in e-commerce. Retailers spend all year building customer trust, and it can disappear with a single failed delivery. Our people ensure that trust stays intact, every parcel, every time.”
 

With the countdown to Christmas now underway, Fastway is urging SMEs and shoppers not to leave online purchases too late, as national parcel traffic is expected to peak sharply from early December.

To help retailers and consumers receive their goods before Christmas, Fastway recommends the following courier scheduling dates:

• 19 December for same-city deliveries
• 18 December for major national centres
• 16 December for regional or outlying areas
• 16 December for very remote towns
   

Fastway’s national network of over 800 locally owned courier franchisees operates across 16 regional territories, providing same-day metropolitan and overnight national deliveries. Each parcel in the network is hand-sorted, placed in sealed cages for transit, and automatically covered by up to R1 000 liability, with the option to extend protection to R30 000, ensuring peace of mind for both senders and receivers during the busiest time of year.

Fastway tips for SMEs ahead of Black Friday

Drawing on Fastway’s experience supporting small and medium businesses, Manikkam shares four ways SMEs can prepare for the surge in orders:

• Plan early: forecast sales and shipment volumes using last year’s data.
• Set clear cut-offs: communicate order deadlines for pre-Christmas delivery.
• Automate workflows: streamline packing and labelling to save time and reduce errors.
• Keep customers informed: proactive updates prevent frustration and build trust.
   

“Shipping shouldn’t be a source of stress,” concludes Manikkam. “Our goal is to help businesses focus on sales and customer service, not on chasing parcels. That’s why our team’s motto this season is simple: We’ll get it there, no matter where ‘there’ is.”