Parcel volumes generated by online retail sales increased by 16.9% in the UK in July, slightly higher than online sales of physical goods, and the second-highest growth rate of the year to date, according to the latest monthly IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index.
The near-17% parcel volume rise compares to a 12% rise in e-retail sales in the UK last month, which was 15% when excluding online travel sales. In June, e-parcel volumes increased by 22.8% while online sales grew by 22%.
IMRG pointed out that following an unseasonal slowdown in May – on top of already below-expectation growth in Q1 – the British online retail sector recovered in June, delivering month-on-month parcel volume growth of 15.3%, rather than the usual seasonal decline.
Although there were concerns that this may have simply been the summer peak coming one month early, UK customers have continued to spend online, with month-on-month growth for July up a further 5.3%, it explained.
“If this can be maintained, UK retailers will send over 1 billion orders through UK carriers this year – the first time this milestone will have been reached,” IMRG pointed out.
Importantly, in the face of these rising volumes, so far in 2015 the quality of delivery service has been consistently strong, and this continued into July where 95% of orders arrived on-time – the highest percentage in 2015 to date.
Andrew Starkey, head of e-logistics, IMRG, said: “Two months of very strong performance from UK retailers has pushed the cumulative year-on-year volume growth rate up to 12.3%, which is fast approaching our start of year forecast of 13%.
“The high levels of service quality mean that we expect more than 900 million orders to be delivered in line with the customer expectations this year but of course the big challenge is still to come with the 2015 Christmas peak, including the anticipated Black Friday and Cyber Monday volume spikes. Some of the UK’s leading retailers will be joining IMRG with MetaPack and leading delivery companies later this month to look ahead at preparations being made.”
Kees de Vos, chief product and marketing officer at MetaPack, commented: “These figures back-up our own experiences of the market over the past month, with growth continuing from June into July, and reflect positive spending patterns amongst UK consumers. Contributing factors will also include the breadth of delivery choice now available from retailers and determined efforts to ensure deliveries more than meet customer expectations.”
