Online delivery volumes dip in September
New figures show that there was an unexpected slowdown in parcel growth in September following the predicted lull in August as the unseasonably warm weather held back online sales of autumn and winter clothing.
However, the latest IMRG MetaPack Delivery Index also reveals that the volume of deliveries was still 10.9% up on September 2013 and that cumulative volume growth is holding at 18.9% for 2014.
Andrew Starkey head of e-logistics for IMRG, said “Volumes are still up against the same period last year and remain 18.9% on 2013 cumulatively so we still believe that UK retailers will dispatch a record of circa 890 million online orders and 928 million parcels in 2014.”
He added: “We would expect the weather to worsen and drive up autumn and winter clothing range sales. But in order to catch up on a quiet September it is possible that some online retailers will begin to discount earlier.”
The figures also show that the proportion of orders delivered or attempted within the promised time frame was up on the previous three months – on-time deliveries for September was 94.3% compared to 93.89% in August; and carded deliveries went from 4.61% in August to 3.03% in September.
