Pitney Bowes has unveiled the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index, an annual report that measures both 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 lbs). It covers 12 markets – Australia, Japan, India, the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Norway and Sweden.
Based on proprietary and published data, the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index states that the Australian parcel shipping market grew by 8.8 per cent in volume and 8.2 per cent in spend at AU$9.6 billion – the most growth in the Asia-Pacific region in 2015. Australia’s growth rate topped the largest parcel shipping market in the Index, as U.S. parcel shipping volumes grew 3.6 per cent in 2015. Japan, the second largest parcel market in the Index, saw parcel volume dip by 1.7 per cent, despite the parcel shipping spend in Japan increasing by 2.6 per cent to ¥2,480 billion.
Overall, the Index reported 31 billion parcels shipped in 2015 in the markets studied, which is up 2.9 per cent compared to 2014. Furthermore, the Index forecasts parcel shipping volume to grow annually at 5 to 7 per cent for a total increase of 20 per cent by 2018, with cross border shipping leading the way.
Globally, the parcel shipping market is being driven by growth in ecommerce, with an increasing number of online shoppers around the world. According to the latest Pitney Bowes Global Online Shopping Survey, Australians are global leaders when it comes to online shopping:
- 88 per cent of Australians shop online with almost half (47 per cent) shopping online monthly.
- 86 per cent of Australians purchased products online from retailers in a different country within the last year – second only to Singapore.
- 78 per cent of Australians bought online cross-border in the last month and the last year – the most in the world.
“The growth of ecommerce and the expansion of parcel shippers in our market has led to increasing complexity for businesses of all sizes,” said Stephen Darracott, Country Manager, Pitney Bowes Australia and New Zealand. “In Australia, ecommerce retailers and SMBs in particular have a strong shipping opportunity and will continue to see growth in shipping volume and spend. In the next few years, technology will be key to combatting the complexity that comes with so many carrier choices, different service levels, and 24/7 tracking. Up and coming technologies like cloud-based multi-carrier shipping platforms will be crucial in helping businesses of all sizes to maximise efficiency, optimise parcel shipping operations and deliver the best possible customer experience.”
During the busy holiday shopping and shipping season, accurate and precise shipping is paramount for businesses around the world. The Pitney Bowes Global Online Shopping Survey2 found almost half of global shoppers reported some type of challenge with their online holiday orders in 2015. Shipping issues such as the wrong address, lost items or tracking inaccuracies made up more than half of those issues. While Australia did better than the global average, 32 per cent indicated that they experienced shipping-related challenges when shopping online during the 2015 holiday season.