Apex Insight has just published the latest update of its best-selling research report, European Parcels Market Insight Report 2016. The 146 page report provides significant additions and revisions to its annually published title, including for the first time, market segmentation by B2B, B2C and C2X.
Apex Insight believes that the European parcels market was over €59 billion in size in 2015, having grown in recent years despite the downturn – largely because of the increased demand from home shopping.
The European parcels market is competitive and characterised by a range of operating models and ownership structures.
The market is served by a combination of integrators (UPS, DHL, FedEx, TNT), national postal operators (e.g. Royal Mail, La Poste, Deutsche Post, bpost , Poste Italiane, Correos, PostNL) some of which operate wider European networks (DHL, DPD, GLS), and independent (mainly national) parcel delivery companies (e.g. UKMail, Yodel, MRW, BRT, TIPSA, Hermes). There are also a number of road transport networks which act as alliances of national parcels operators to enable them to include international deliveries as part of their offering, such as Eurodis and Net Express.
Having mapped out the revenues of the companies in the countries where they operate, we believe that the three leaders are the national post offices of Germany, France and the UK, including their respective parcels operations (DHL, DPD and GLS).
The integrators follow, with FedEx/TNT likely to overtake UPS in Europe, followed by Hermes as the largest of the independents, and which has particular focus on home delivery. The acquisition of TNT by FedEx is a significant acquisition, and gives the US integrator a much greater domestic presence in, and a leading road network between key European markets. Apex Insight has estimated the likely market positions of FedEx in key European domestic markets, based on the combined individual revenues of FedEx and TNT.
The three largest post office owned groups and the integrators account for almost two thirds of the overall market, leaving a significant proportion still in the hands of smaller national post offices and independent operators.
TNT Express Net Sales by European Country, €m, 2008-2015
Source: Company accounts
An important development in the last year has been the entry of Amazon to the parcels market. It has taken stakes in two carriers, set up a UK joint venture for sameday delivery and set-up its own UK delivery capability using local courier partners.
Based on trends in GDP and internet shopping, as well as views from leading parcels networks, we expect market growth to continue.
A full summary is available upon request.
See more details here: European Parcels Market Insight Report 2016.