New IMRG statistics reveal UK retailers will send over 1bn parcels by year-end

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Mar 2, 2015

The latest IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index shows that in January of this year, parcel volumes from online retail orders in the UK were up 9.5% year-on-year. This is less than the 13% forecast for the year, but a significant increase from January 2014's 3.8% growth.

IMRG and MetaPack now estimate that by the end of this year, the number of parcels dispatched by UK retailers through carriers in the UK is likely to breach the 1bn mark. January usually sees a sharp decline in order volumes and last January the decline was 33% month-on-month, marginally more than the 32% month-on-month fall seen in January 2014.

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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 up 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."