New Triangle research: gone is the exponential B2C e-commerce growth

Amid the cost-of-living crisis, Triangle Management Services has published its UK Parcel Market Size 2024 report, which measures and breaks down the UK parcel carrier market and analyses the key national carriers that shape the industry.

Side by side with the lockdowns and the pandemic, gone is the exponential B2C e-commerce growth. Growth is still present but there has been a significant slowdown, so even though volumes are still above pre-pandemic levels, they are not as high as during the pandemic. Unfortunately, for parcel carriers, the industry has gone from a period of tremendous growth to a period led by the cost-of-living crisis, rising costs and high inflation, meaning consumer confidence was low, together with discretionary spending.

The report meticulously analyses the estimated 3.7 billion items that were handled in 2022-23 by the top 15 UK express parcel carriers, which generated £14.8 billion in revenues, and allocates the market share held by each of the carriers.

It also breaks down each of the carrier’s volume by B2B/B2C/C2X, the most common parcel sizes, weight-bands, preferred and most widely used service levels as well as by domestic and international traffic.

Results show that both the average size and weight of the parcels seem to be getting smaller, which again, could be connected with people having less discretionary money and opting to purchase smaller, less expensive items.

There is also an emerging trend of second hand buying. Vinted Ltd, the second hand clothing marketplace, saw turnover rise by 51% from 2o21 to 2022 as people turned to purchasing pre-owned clothes.

Agustin Maril, Senior Market Research Executive at Triangle Management notes: “Triangle estimates that the main UK express parcel carriers analysed in this report, handled around 3.7 billion parcels in 2022-2023, a decline of 9% from the previous year.  With the pandemic no longer being a part of the equation and with inflation stabilising over the last few months,  this dip in volumes is indicative of genuinely weak demand.”

The report also includes a detailed summary of the e-commerce market covering the key product categories (Grocery 57%, Fashion 55%, health and beauty 52%) and how delivery preferences have shifted now that people have partially gone back to the office and are less at home (home delivery accounts for around 81% of all deliveries.)

Each carrier profile includes financial performance (covering the last two years), key markets and operations, investment in fleet and infrastructure, latest developments and its domestic and international service portfolios.

So, whether you want to use it as a competitive analysis tool, a market sizing exercise, a strategical support document, this digest may be just what you need.

For further information or if you want to acquire the digest, please contact Agustin Maril:

+44 (0)1628 642910 or agustin.maril@postandparcel.info