Online retail delivery volumes up 10% in April
Online retail delivery volumes were up +10.1% year-on-year in April (+3% on March) according to the IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index, as order growth continued its steady start to the year meaning year-to-date growth (+11.8%) is almost exactly aligned with our start-of-year forecast (+12%).
Over the past year or so we have recorded a consistently high rate of ‘on-time’ delivery performance and in April this was again the case. Where the established trend is for a month-on-month fall between March and April, we actually saw a slight improvement at 94.7% of orders being fulfilled in line with shopper expectation.
Another area where we are seeing improvements is in average parcel order values, which were recorded as being over +20% higher than the same time last year for the second month in a row. This trend is also being reflected in the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index although at a lesser rate, where the average basket value is up +3% year-to-date after consistently falling throughout 2015.
Andrew Starkey, head of e-logistics, IMRG, said:
“So far in 2016 online retail delivery volumes have been pretty steady with growth broadly in line with established trends. We are perhaps seeing something quite significant happen in relation to order values however, which are up over 20% compared with April 2015. Last year, retailers felt pressured into running discounting activity that was more prolonged and deeper than they would have liked – as they found it difficult to scale back sales campaigns without losing shopper engagement following Black Friday 2014. The increasing order values may be a reflection of less widespread discounting now, although we are fast approaching the EU referendum which may have some impact upon shopper confidence.”
Kees de Vos, chief product officer at MetaPack, said:
“The increase in order values is a very positive trend, suggesting that retailers have implemented strategies such as cross selling, bundling or setting purchasing thresholds for free delivery. This consistent monthly rise, together with the growth in delivery volumes, should now be making its impact on eCommerce retail balance sheets.”
