Delivery volumes surge to record level in March

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Apr 26, 2017

March saw an unexpectedly steep growth in delivery volumes with parcel deliveries and orders growing by 18.7% on February 2017 and by 22.7% year-on-year.

According to IMRG and MetaPack, the month-on-month growth was the largest in the history of their UK Delivery Index, while the year-on-year figure is significantly ahead of the 11% start-of-the-year forecast for 2017.

This strong uplift may have been influenced by Easter falling late in March in 2016 – so while a lot of the sales may have been completed over that bank holiday weekend, a bulk of the orders would have actually been fulfilled in April.

“The triggering of Article 50 and the Spring Budget both came in March. While the former probably hasn’t been a shot in the arm for online retail, the latter might inspire some optimism. Greater tax allowances and a prediction of +2% economic growth might have created some consumer confidence, but this short-term spike could well have more to do with retailers using offers to stimulate activity and the timing of Easter,” said Andrew Starkey, IMRG Head of e-Logistics.

The rate of ‘on-time’ deliveries stood at 93.9%, improving from a decline in January and February. This is despite the increase in demand for faster, next-day delivery and specific-day orders.

Sales volumes to cross-border destinations are tracking along expected trends, though at a higher level due to the pound’s decline following the Brexit referendum.

“The reasons behind the growth in delivery volumes are not clear, but it is nevertheless welcome,” said Chris Hoskin, Head of Marketing, MetaPack.

“It will be interesting to see the impact that the General Election announcement has on consumer confidence throughout April and May which could result in a levelling out in volumes, bringing us back to predicted forecasts.”