A third of all online orders in the month of the EU referendum were international deliveries, according to the latest IMRG figures.
The June IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index suggests that in June, 27% of all orders were destined for international delivery addresses. That’s the highest figure for June in the five years of the index. The IMRG suggests that with the fall of sterling in the wake of the leave vote, products from UK retailers became more attractive to cross-border shoppers.
Overall delivery volumes were up by 10.3% during the month compared to the same time last year, and up by 1.6% compared to May. To give some context, June 2015 was also a strong month in the wake of the general election, with delivery volumes up by 22.8% year on year, and by 15.3% month-on-month.
However, the value of orders to both EU and non-EU destinations was down by 13% compared to May. That’s a turnaround since up to then average order values had got steadily higher every month.
Andrew Starkey, head of e-logistics at IMRG , says the figures should be treated with caution as a snapshot, since only one week of the month fell after the EU result.
““The data this month provides a reasonably clear indication that there were some early impacts on delivery orders following the EU referendum, but it’s worth keeping in mind that June’s data only included one week of post-Brexit tracking – it’s just too early to say if we are seeing the start of a genuine shift in trends. We knew that sterling would take a sudden sharp hit in the event of a vote to leave, but over time it would be expected to recover again – the more important factor for retailers will be how shopper confidence fares in the long-term.”
Kees de Vos, chief product officer at MetaPack : “It is to be expected that in response to the immediate drop in the value of the pound, cross-border transactions would be impacted, but we should not read anything conclusive into this. As the post-Brexit trade landscape starts to take shape and we begin the process of negotiating new trade arrangements that protect consumer’s interests across Europe, then a clearer picture will emerge.”
