Innovation in UK deliveries industry expected in line with market boom – Pitney Bowes

The UK parcel market is expecting an inundation of innovative ideas and emerging technologies, with a growing emphasis placed on the delivery last mile due to a continued boom in deliveries.

Pitney Bowes, a global shipping and delivery technology company, has revealed in its 2017 Shipping Index that the continued increase in global parcel volumes, largely down to the growth in ecommerce, is behind this, up by as much as 48% between 2014-2016 from 44bn to 65bn.

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“As the UK sees a surge in parcel deliveries, consumers can expect a huge shake-up in last-mile delivery services,” said Ryan Higginson, Vice President and UK leader at Pitney Bowes.

“If parcel volumes continue to grow at this year’s rate, we could be sending 3.9bn parcels by 2021.”

The Amazon effect has forced retailers to move more readily into the ecommerce sphere in order to compete with the Silicon Valley giant’s ever-growing market expansion.

Pitney Bowes expect that new methods and models will include crowd-shipping, on-demand delivery, evening and weekend services and even the use of drones.

“All of this will help to shorten delivery times, lower delivery costs and increase consumer choice and flexibility,” Higginson continued.

The Shipping Index cites that the ecommerce market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10% between 2016-2021, with parcel volumes reported to grow twice as quickly as this.