Online retail parcel delivery order volumes in the UK increased by 15.2% year-on-year in July as the heatwave drove Britons to skip foreign holidays in favour of staying at home – and shopping more online, according to the latest data from the IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index.
Growth traditionally plateaus during the summer holiday season as many people go abroad but, as the temperatures remained very high across most of the UK, it seems people instead opted to stay on home turf this year, which reflected positively in the delivery index – up 2.6% month-on-month on July, IMRG commented.
In terms of deliveries, the usage of specified and next-day services remained at an all-time high in July, accounting for 36.5% of all online orders. And while an increase in the reliance on specified-day services means added pressure for carriers, the percentage of successful on-time deliveries remains unchanged at 90%. This is still considerably lower than in previous years, however – just two years ago, retailers and carriers were maintaining an average success rate of 94%.
The average order value in July was again above its relative position in recent years, up 4.6% against July 2017, with the continued hot weather likely to have been a key contributing factor. Most of this year-on-year performance is driven by purchases made by UK-based shoppers, although the strength of the euro has kept European values up too, according to the e-commerce organisation.
Andrew Starkey, Head of e-Logistics at IMRG, said: “2018 continues to be a solid year for online delivery growth. There have been a number of recent economic indicators that suggest consumer confidence is decreasing and that shoppers are feeling the pinch as we have moved into the third quarter, but there were some more positive findings this month in that the average order value was the highest ever recorded in the Index for the month of July.
“With European shoppers apparently taking advantage of the strength of the euro against sterling, and UK shoppers wanting to make the most of the hot summer, it’s only the on-time delivery rate that remains a concern over the coming months as we approach the peak shopping season.”
The IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index is based on volumes facilitated through MetaPack’s shipping platform, covering in excess of 200 retailers and an average of more than 5 million orders in any one month.
