The UK market is set for a huge shake-up in new trends and emerging technologies in last-mile delivery, according to Pitney Bowes.
The company has published its Parcel Shipping Index 2017 and says that last year saw parcel deliveries increase by 12% to 2.5 billion and spending increase by 8% to £10 billion.
The company says that market growth will give rise to new delivery models like crowd-shipping, on-demand delivery services, evening and weekend delivery and drones. This is needed to satisfy customer demand for a better shipping experience by shortening delivery times, lowering delivery costs and adding consumer choice.
The second year of the Index shows that global parcel volumes increased by 48% the last two years, from 44 billion parcels in 2014 to 65 billion in 2016. In addition, the Parcel Shipping Index forecasts a 20% increase in parcel volume every year from 2017-2021.
Ryan Higginson, VP & UK country leader at Pitney Bowes, said change was needed to manage the future growth of the market. “As the UK sees a surge in parcel deliveries, consumers can expect a huge shake-up in last-mile delivery services. If parcel volumes continue to grow at this year’s rate, we could be sending 3.9 billion parcels by 2021.
“We are expecting to see companies meet growing demand with new delivery models, like crowd-shipping, on-demand delivery services, evening and weekend delivery and drones. All of this will help to shorten delivery times, lower delivery costs and increase consumer choice and flexibility.”
The figures also show increased adoption of click and collect, expected to account for 35% of all physical deliveries by 2018.
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