Parcel volumes increase in February

Online retail parcel volumes increased by 16.8 percent in February, compared with the same month last year, according to the IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index.

Even though there was an increase in volume from last year, compared to January 2016 there was a drop of 14.4 percent, which IMRG says is “typical” at this time of the year, however, the drop from January was better than February last year when volumes fell by 20 percent.

IMRG added that the delivery index results were closely aligned with the sales growth results in February, up 18 percent. In addition, as retailers scaled back discounting in February, the average parcel order values were up by nearly a fifth, 19 percent year-on-year.

Andrew Starkey, head of e-logistics at IMRG, said: “2016 has the potential to be a seismic year in many respects, as there is plenty of uncertainty surrounding macro events that may influence shopper confidence.

“The biggest of these is the EU referendum, but the outcome of the US presidential election and the changing fortunes of the Chinese economy could both have a significant impact on the performance of the retail sector here. For the time being however, the e-logistics sector looks to be in a good place with the percentage of on-time deliveries remaining high and almost reaching 95 percent.”

Kees de Vos, chief product officer at MetaPack, added: “It’s reassuring to see that delivery Index results are aligned with sales growth results and that in February we have reverted back to a more stable level of volumes.

“The retail landscape, however, is evolving and the impact of outside events will affect the Index this year. Change is also being brought about by new opportunities that are being afforded to consumers.”