Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index Reveals 48% Growth Since 2014

Pitney Bowes, a global technology company that provides innovative products and solutions to power commerce, announced a 48 percent increase in global parcel volume over the last two years, as reported by its second annual Parcel Shipping Index. Parcel volume has grown from 44 billion parcels in 2014 to 65 billion in 2016, and the increase in growth shows no signs of slowing down, with the Index estimating parcel growth will continue to rise at a rate of 17-28 percent each year between 2017 and 2021.

Indian Market Highlights
• Parcel spend: Grew by 5% YOY to reach ₹115 billion in 2016.
• Parcel volume: Grew by 22% YOY to reach 412M in 2016.

Parcel volume in India grew by 22 percent to 412 million in 2016, and spend increased in 2016 by 5 percent to reach ₹115 billion. Automated parcel lockers are emerging to overcome the challenges associated with last mile delivery for e-commerce companies.

The Index measures parcel volume and spend for business-to-business, business-to-consumer, consumer-to-business and consumer consigned shipments with weight up to 31.5 kg (70 pounds), across 13 major markets, including: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States.

China, a new addition to this year’s Index and by far the largest market examined, grew parcel volume by 52 percent in one year, increasing from 21 billion parcels in 2015 to 31 billion in 2016. But, even when excluding China’s prolific volumes, the Index forecasts a strong and accelerating pace of growth in parcels throughout the world. On average, the other 12 major markets studied have grown 4.3% annually since 2012 and are projected to grow 4.5% - 5.4% annually through 2021.

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The United States (at 13 billion) and Japan (at 9 billion) were also among the largest markets by parcel volume. In terms of investment, the United States ranked highest, spending $96 billion on parcel shipments, followed by China at $60 billion and Japan at $22 billion.

“The continued rise of ecommerce globally is keeping the parcel shipping market strong through 2021 as consumers are increasingly looking to online shopping for convenience, price and availability of products from around the world,” said Lila Snyder, executive vice president and president, Global Ecommerce, Pitney Bowes. “As consumer expectations continue to rise, shipping technology and service providers will need to help retailers and marketplaces meet those demands.”

Results from the Parcel Shipping Index point to rapid growth and last mile delivery challenges – when a parcel is transported from a hub to the end-user – as driving innovation across markets. New trends and emerging technologies, such as parcel lockers, crowd-shipping, on-demand delivery services, evening and weekend delivery and drones, are impacting the customer shipping experience by shortening delivery times, lowering delivery costs and adding flexibility.

“Managing the growing demands and navigating the evolving landscape of parcel shipping can be complicated for organizations of all sizes, from large enterprises to small businesses,” said Mark Shearer, executive vice president and president, Global SMB Solutions, Pitney Bowes. “Digital transformation of a company’s shipping workflow can help to better enable carrier, timing and cost efficiencies for companies, as well as improve customer experiences through the addition of tracking capabilities, simplifying and streamlining processes for both senders and recipients.”

A breakdown of key results across Asia Pacific is included below.

Asia Pacific (Australia, China, India, Japan)
· In Australia, the parcel market experienced double digit growth in parcel volume, increasing in 2016 by 13 percent to 794 million, and parcel spend grew by 4 percent to reach AU$9 billion in 2016.
· From 2015 to 2016, the parcel shipping market in China grew by 52 percent in volume to reach 31 billion parcels shipped, and 45 percent in spend to reach ¥400.5 billion.
· Parcel volume in India grew by 22 percent to 412 million in 2016, and spend increased in 2016 by 5 percent to reach ₹115 billion.
· Japan showed a 3 percent growth in parcel volume and 2 percent growth in parcel spend from 2015 to 2016, reaching 9.4 billion and ¥2,401 billion respectively.