The rise in eCommerce had a huge impact on 2020’s monumental parcel shipping volumes. BOXpoll™ by Pitney Bowes, the consumer survey on current events, culture and eCommerce logistics, found 41 percent of consumers continue to shop online more today than they did before the pandemic, underscoring the record growth of eCommerce over the past 17 months.
“The pandemic had an enormous impact on the growth of eCommerce, driving the most significant shift from in-store to online shopping ever experienced,” said Dies. “And as we head into this year’s holiday season, consumer preferences for online shopping show no signs of slowing down.”
The Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index, reveals U.S. parcel volume grew 37% year-over-year, reaching 20 billion, up from 15 billion in 2019.
. “A 37% increase in parcel volume year-over-year compares with an average growth of 10% over the past five years. 20 billion parcels represent an average of 61 parcels generated per U.S citizen," said Jason Dies President Sending Technology Solutions, Pitney Bowes. “ Going forward, accelerated investment in infrastructure, technology and digital capabilities will help carriers address surging demand, deliver at scale and cope with the unpredictable.”
In 2020, around 640 parcels were shipped per second, compared to 466 in 2019. Between 2015 and 2020, US parcel volume doubled from 10 billion to 20 billion.
Looking ahead, Pitney Bowes forecasts U.S .parcel volume will nearly double by 2026, reaching 32-39 billion, with a 10% CAGR from 2021-2025.
Key takeaways from the Index are:
- Carrier revenue
- Reached $171 billion – a 29 percent increase year-over-year
- UPS generated the highest carrier revenue with $60 billion, FedEx generated $58 billion, USPS reached $33 billion while combined revenue from others was $2 billion.
- USPS generated a 40 percent increase in parcel revenue growth year-over-year, FedEx 26 percent growth and UPS 15 percent growth
- Carrier market share
- By revenue, UPS had the highest parcel market share (35 percent, down from 39 percent in 2019), followed by FedEx (34 percent, down from 35 percent), USPS (19 percent, up from 18 percent) and Amazon Logistics (10 percent, up from 6 percent)
- By volume, USPS had the highest market share (38 percent, the same as in 2019), followed by UPS (24 percent, down from 30 percent), Amazon Logistics (21 percent, up from 13 percent) and FedEx (16 percent, down from 18 percent)
- USPS shipped 7.6 billion parcels in 2020, up from 5.7 billion in 2019; UPS shipped 4.9 billion parcels in 2020, up from 4.4 billion; and FedEx shipped 3.3 billion, up from 2.7 billion
- Amazon Logistics
- Grew revenue to $18 billion – a 109% increase year-over-year
- Shipped more than twice as many parcels year-over-year, rising 127% from 1.9 billion to 4.2 billion
- Passed twice as many parcels to carriers for last mile delivery in 2020 (2.8 billion) compared to 2019 (1.4 billion)
