The UK’s online retailers will send a billion parcels for the first time in 2015, a new study estimates.
IMRG and MetaPack predict in this week’s IMPRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index that the milestone will be breached.
In January, the index found, volumes from online retail orders grew by 9.5% compared to the same time last year. This is below the 13% growth predicted this year, but well ahead of the 3.8% growth seen last January. Average order values and customer satisfaction levels were also up compared to last January.
Andrew Starkey, head of e-logistics at IMRG , said: “Although this is short of our 13% forecast growth for the full year, the pace of online shopping always picks in the spring so we expect this figure to increase to match our forecast fairly quickly. It is pleasing to see that after the trauma of Black Friday, the UK carrier industry has recovered quickly and the level of on time delivery / attempted delivery at 92.5% is at its highest January level since 2012.”
IMRG and MetaPack say the established January trend is for a sharp drop in order volumes compared to the previous Christmas month of December. This January month-on-month volumes fell by 33%, slightly more than the 32% drop seen in January 2014.
Angela O’Connell, strategy and marketing director, MetaPack said: “The story of January 2015 is how UK retailers and carriers are continuing to cooperate ever more closely to sustain the successful rebound from the challenges of early December.
“A year-on-year January increase in parcels dispatched is a great way to begin a year when we expect more innovation in delivery choices to enable the growth we and the IMRG are forecasting.”
