Online retail parcel delivery order volumes rose 10.3% year on year in August with the number of customers opting for next day delivery also increasing to a record level for the time of year, according to the latest figures from the IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index.
The figures showed that next day delivery accounted for 56% of orders delivered in the UK during August. The figure is up from 52% in August 2017 and is a record for the time of year. The volume of economy deliveries dropped -4 percentage points down to 41.4%. Successful on-time deliveries hit 89%. The on-time deliveries level is higher than August last year when the rate was 85% but below the August 2016 rate of 94%.
Andrew Starkey, head of e-logistics for IMRG, said the figures were largely encouraging. “The first half of 2018 provided a steady growth picture for online delivery volumes and, while we tend to track a slowdown in volumes over summer, this is expected and we are still on course for our target 13% year-on-year growth for the full year,” he said.
However he said retailers had to be ready for peak and that there needed to be an improvement in on-time delivery. “Of the 1.5bn parcels this will generate, about a quarter will be sent in November and December and so preparations for peak are in full flow. Over the next few months we must hope that the record average basket values we have seen so far this year are sustained. Also, for an improvement in on-time delivery performance which, although recovering a little this month, still gives cause for concern,” he said.
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