Parcel volumes in the UK have soared on the back of continued strong growth in Black Friday-Cyber Monday online sales, according to estimates today.
To date, only e-commerce shipment management specialist MetaPack, which integrates 300 carriers and postal operators and 3,500 services in distributing goods in more than 200 countries, has given precise details on its Black Friday parcel volume.
It confirmed to CEP-Research reports claiming it had processed almost one million parcels across its e-commerce delivery platform during Black Friday – a rise of 46% on the equivalent period last year.
This compares to an estimate from e-commerce association IMRG and researchers Experian of a 36% hike in Black Friday online sales in the UK this year on 2014, reaching £1.1 billion.
For the week ending 29 November, MetaPack's parcel volume growth increased from 27% in 2014 to 39% this year. A spokesperson for MetaPack said its Cyber Monday figures were not yet available.
Both Yodel and Hermes UK said they would be publishing their figures for Black Friday and Cyber Monday later this week. No one was immediately available to comment at either Royal Mail or DPD UK.
IMRG and Experian say the total spend in the UK for the 4-day Black Friday weekend this year reached £3.3bn with Cyber Monday generating sales of £968 million (in excess of an earlier forecast of £943 million) and significantly higher than the £720 million posted on the same day last year.
Asked by CEP-Research whether the Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales surge meant that December would now be a lower growth month for online sales, IMRG editor Andy Mulcahy, replied: "Black Friday is the biggest peak in a series of peaks, with Cyber Monday, Manic Monday (7 December), cut-off delivery dates before Christmas and Boxing Day etc. all being big days.
"The issue with Black Friday is that it pulled a bulk of Christmas trade forward into November so December 2014 featured record low growth (5%), which was followed by a rise of 7% in the first quarter of 2015 – the first time we’ve seen single-digit growth for a quarter in the 15-year history of the e-Retail Index. The first quarter of 2014 came in at 17%, to put that in perspective.
"It’s too early to say Black Friday alone accounted for that slowdown in Q1 – there were multiple other reasons, but if it happens again this year it will be pretty clear," he concluded.
