Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index Reveals Continued Growth Bolstered by Australians’ Eager Online Shopping Habits

AUSTRALIA, October 24, 2019 Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI), a global technology company that provides commerce solutions for Australian businesses in the areas of ecommerce, shipping, mailing, data and financial services, today unveiled the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index, revealing parcel volume has reached 87 billion in 2018, the highest since the Index began in 2013.

The research also revealed that online shoppers in Australia are ranked second globally when it comes to shopping internationally – explaining the cross-border ecommerce increase by 7.3 per cent year on year primarily from the Americas, China and the UK in 2018. The data also revealed Australia shipped 864 million parcels in 2018, with a parcel revenue value of AUD 9.3B, and an average of 34 parcels shipped per person. Globally, 2760 parcels are shipped every second; in Australia, 2.36M parcels are shipped per day.

In what many have forecast for mail businesses around the world, this is also the first year that revenue from the parcel segment has surpassed revenue from the mail segment for all major postal companies.

Stephen Darracott, Country Manager and Director Pitney Bowes Australia and New Zealand said, “Global parcel revenues continue to benefit from the explosive impact of ecommerce, but it isn’t just online shoppers boosting the industry. We know from our clients’ own behaviors that office sending is increasing in Australia, especially as ecommerce increases Australian business visibility globally. What’s more, the boost for small businesses showcases the growing consumer appetite and increasing need for competitive offerings.”

Significantly, this Shipping Index has revealed that optimising the ‘last mile’ delivery is now a key concern and motivation for innovation for almost all shipping businesses, especially as consumer expectations shift from 2-day delivery, to 1 day and now even 2 hours.

Solutions such as intelligent parcel lockers are becoming the norm, however it’s the cognitive technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain that could spark real change in optimising last mile deliveries.

The industry is moving to accommodate for this growth in demand. In 2019 Australia Post announced its largest parcel facility (50,000 square meters) and delivery center in Queensland to meet the increasing demand due to growing eCommerce, with the new facility able to process up to 700,000 parcels per day at peak timings.

Pitney Bowes’ own offering allows customers to take ownership of their shipping, with offerings such as SendPro+ giving customers the flexibility to choose the option that’s right for their business.

“We’ve observed carriers trialing new and exciting strategies to deliver the best customer experience. The next-generation of sending technologies are producing last mile innovation that will continually provide solutions for the businesses of Australia” says Stephen.

“Pitney Bowes’ latest product developments and partnerships are geared towards that, providing innovative sending solutions that can improve our customers’ business, and the ease at which they send. Pitney Bowes is proud to ensure Australians continue to grow their businesses successfully” he concludes.

From a global perspective, China continues to exert its influence on the global parcel shipping market. In 2018, it extended its global lead in parcel volume, with 26 per cent year-over-year growth. At 51 billion, its parcel volume is more than four times that of the United States which stands at 13 billion. However, the United States’ parcel revenues - at $119.bn - remain higher than China’s parcel revenues of $91bn.

View the Australian infographic to learn more

About the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index

The Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index measures parcel volume and spend for business-to-business, business-to-consumer, consumer-to-business and consumer consigned shipments with weight up to 31.5kg (70 pounds) across Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Population data points were sourced from the International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database published in October 2018. The Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index spans 13 countries and represents the parcel shipping activity of 3.7 billion people.

View the Pitney Bowes Shipping Index interactive map and infographic to learn more.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) is a global technology company providing commerce solutions that power billions of transactions. Clients around the world, including 90 per cent of the Fortune 500, rely on the accuracy and precision delivered by Pitney Bowes solutions, analytics, and APIs in the areas of ecommerce fulfillment, shipping and returns; cross-border ecommerce; office mailing and shipping; presort services; location data; customer information and engagement software; services; and financing. For nearly 100 years Pitney Bowes has been innovating and delivering technologies that remove the complexity of getting commerce transactions precisely right. For additional information visit Pitney Bowes, the Craftsmen of Commerce, at www.pitneybowes.com.

Contact:
Aye Verckens
Marketing Communications
M: +61 418 872 025
aye.verckens@pb.com
 

Eden Radford
BCW on behalf of Pitney Bowes
M +61 405 017 047
eden.radford@bcw-global.com
 

Lauren McMillan
BCW on behalf of Pitney Bowes
M +61 434 482 932
lauren.mcmillan@bcw-global.com