Parcel volumes to alternative delivery points to double in UK in five years, GFS says

Parcel volumes delivered to alternative collection points instead of to homes are expected todouble in the UK over the next five years, British parcel and carrier manager Global Freight

According to GFS, the rapidly growing e-commerce market is likely to result in a growing numberof shoppers demanding more delivery options. Currently, the proportion of parcels delivered tolocker terminals and parcel shops accounts for less than 3% of the total volumes handled by thecarriers.

But GFS Director Simon Veale expects the trend towards alternatives to home deliveries toincrease in the coming years with one in 20 consumer parcels – 5% – to be delivered to alternativecollection points by 2016. He stressed that while the volumes of the alternative deliveries arerelatively low for the moment, they might grow rapidly in a similar way the internet shopping didwhich was rather uncommon about six years ago.

“On the basis of the figures which we have seen and the information which we have obtained fromretailers and the carriers which serve them, we are talking about nothing short of a major culturalshift in how parcels are delivered in the UK. In a relatively short space of time, e-commerce hasalready had a tremendous impact on the way we shop and the volume of parcels being handled bycarriers in the UK and the rest of the world,” he said.

“The convenience of being able to shop where, when and how we like has led to a desire forsimilar flexibility in the way we receive the goods we buy on-line. That, in turn, has promptedboth retailers and delivery firms to come up with a range of new ways to satisfy customer demands,”Veale further explained.

The GFS analysis of the pre-Christmas period with peak parcel volumes estimated the number ofe-commerce shipments during November and December 2011 to be 15% higher than the previous year.

Veale stressed that the growing number of consumers shipping their parcels to alternativeaddresses is not necessarily bad for the carriers. “Any change in how goods are delivered is merelylikely to result in displacement of resources from one part of their operations to another.”

He mentioned Royal Mail’s Poste Restante service operating as an alternative to home delivery inthe UK for some time now enabling individuals to pick up parcels at their local post office. “Itmight be that it hasn’t been very widely used because some people were unaware that it existed orwere used to receiving parcels at home. The advent of e-commerce might also mean the time is nowright for exploring deliveries shaped to meet the customer’s lifestyle and not the other wayaround.”

“In my opinion, the uptake of alternative delivery methods in the UK is likely to mirror the wayGermany got used to the Packstation system introduced by Deutsche Post. Mass adoption didn’t happenovernight but is now a well-established and well-accepted part of how people send and receiveparcels there.”

GFS ships more than five million parcels a year on behalf of leading e-commerce brands andhousehold names in financial services, leisure and engineering.