Parcel Shipping Revenue Up by 11% Reaching $279 bn: Pitney Bowes Index

NYSE-listed Pitney Bowes Inc, a global technology company that provides commerce solutions in the areas of e-commerce, shipping, mailing, and data, on Tuesday released the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index. This is considered to be the industry’s most comprehensive parcel shipping report along with shipping-related insights across 13 countries representing 3.7 billion people. The survey reports that parcel shipping generated $279 billion revenue last year, an increase of 11 percent over 2016.

According to the report, parcel volume globally grew 17 percent last year to 74.4 billion parcels, up from 63.6 billion in 2016. This was in the 17-28 percent growth projection range given in last year’s Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index. On an average, there were 22 parcels shipped per person globally, and 2,300 parcels shipped every second.

China once again reported the largest parcel volume growth at 28 percent year-over-year (YOY). India followed China with a year-on-year growth at 15 percent. Parcel volume in India grew at the slowest pace in the past five years as customers placed fewer online orders in response to demonetization and implementation of GST.

Lila Snyder, President, Commerce Services at Pitney Bowes, said that globally, e-commerce continues to drive growth in all regions. Global e-commerce giants continue to raise the bar, resetting consumer expectations when it comes to shipping. Mind you that retailers and marketplaces race to keep up with increasing consumer expectations. And at this outset, the carriers must create efficient, seamless services that deliver in a world of ‘fast and free’ e-commerce shipping.

The study suggests that the global shipping volume is expected to surpass 100 billion parcels in 2020 in aggregate across the 13 countries reviewed, which include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States.

Key Findings by Region

Asia Pacific Region (eg: Australia, China, India, Japan)

Australia shipped 841 million parcels at 34 parcels per person, an 8 percent increase YOY.

China’s parcel volume reached 40.1 billion in 2017, or 1,270 parcels shipped each second. With the highest parcel volume in the study, China is up by 28 percent YOY shipping 29 parcels per person in 2017.

India shipped just 1 parcel per person in 2017, yet grew 15 percent YOY reaching a total of 1.5 billion parcels shipped. However, domestic and international carriers and retailers remain upbeat on future prospects of the Indian market, and have made sizeable investments in logistics segment of the country.

Japan shipped 76 parcels per person in 2017 with YOY growth at 2 percent and a total parcel volume shipped at 9.6 billion.