About European Consumer and Small Business Parcels Services: C2X Parcels Market Insight Report 2019
What does the report contain?
This report focuses on an important segment of the parcels industry: those services designed to carry parcels on behalf of consumers and small businesses that are sending parcels.
We quantify the market segment size, historical growth rates, segmentation patterns and levels of market profitability while reviewing key factors behind these figures.
We also carry out an in-depth analysis of the relevant drivers of industry growth. This includes trends in home shopping, the growth of marketplaces and the development of new services targeted at this segment.
A broad range of companies who serve the consumer / small business segment across Europe are profiled, their strategies and positioning are reviewed and their performance and prospects are analysed.
The report sets out historical trends in a data-rich document with over 80 charts and tables.
It contains our forecast scenario for consumer / small business segment growth which is based on analysis of historical trends and our understanding of growth drivers.
What are the sources and methodology?
This report is based on
– Interviews with senior-level contacts in the parcels and home shopping industries
– In-depth analysis of the macroeconomic environment and relevant parcels market drivers
– Financial analysis of the accounts of companies in the industry
– Our own experience of advising both companies and investors in the parcels and home shopping industry
Information from these sources has been synthesised and presented clearly and concisely with extensive use of charts and tables to illuminate points and support conclusions.
Who is it useful for?
The report is intended for
– parcels carriers and logistics groups,
– home-shopping retailers,
– operators of consumer / small business parcels service providers,
– potential entrants to the segment,
– investors,
– banks,
– analysts,
– consultants
– government / regulators
– other parties with interests in the area
Changes since the previous edition
All areas of the report, including our forecasts have been reviewed and updated and, where appropriate, re-written to reflect latest market developments and new information which has come to light. Readers who have used previous versions of our report will note that this process has led to us making revisions to our estimates of the overall size of the segment and our historical and forecast growth rates
Summary
Consumer / Small Business Parcels Market Background
Consumers and small businesses wishing to send occasional parcels have traditionally been served by national postal services with customers taking their parcel to their local post office and queuing up to send it.
Historically, most parcels carriers did not target smaller customers. This type of traffic was challenging for their business models, which rely on consolidation of pick-ups to obtain superior economics. This, plus the fixed costs of setting up and operating an account made small customers unprofitable
However, other business models have now developed the ability to serve this segment, via an online presence and / or physical locations such as parcel shops or lockers without incurring the high fixed costs which previously made it unattractive.
Market size and growth
We believe that the consumer / small business parcels segment is now around 1.3bn parcels per year across Europe. It splits into two similar-sized parts:
– Returns of online purchases
– C2C parcels – which includes presents sent to friends and family and also fulfilment of items sold on marketplaces or hobby sites by non-professional or very small scale sellers.
Returns volumes are growing year by year, as home shopping increases, while C2C parcels are mature.
Competitive landscape
Market developments have reduced some of the competitive advantages of postal operators:
– They are no longer the only carriers with the necessary consumer awareness and reach to serve this market.
– However, their universal service delivery networks make them very competitive for the delivery of packets and smaller parcels to consumer addresses.
Many established carriers have now introduced specific ‘direct’ channels and services for consumers / small businesses.
At the same time, businesses with models specifically focusing on the needs of this segment have emerged with many having achieved impressive growth rates. The models are:
– Networks, with collection and delivery points: lockers or manned locations such as convenience stores. Examples include Hermes’ Parcel Shops, UPS’s Access Point network, DPD Pickup as well as independent networks such as Mondial Relay and Collect+
– Brokers, operating consumer-facing websites which offer services from a range of carriers, typically at rates which would not be accessible to the consumer. Examples include Parcel2Go, Packlink and Sendabox.
Reflecting the price-sensitive nature of the C2X segment, several of these operators offer very keen pricing to consumers
Outlook – Healthy Prospects for Growth
We expect the market to grow in the future but at a modest rate with faster-growing returns volumes being balanced by more mature C2C parcels.
The key challenge for postal operators continues to be to retain as much of the segment as possible in the face of increased competition
Key challenges for the newer players are:
– Networks must increase their scale to the point where they are a truly convenient option and have the capacity to deal with growth.
– Brokers must seek ways to increase the value that they add to contain the threat of disintermediation, for example by improving their customer service and partnering with carriers to run their direct site.
Introduction 1
About this report
Summary
About Apex Insight
Contents
List of charts and tables
The Consumer and Small Business Consigned Parcels Market 10
Market definition
History
New business models
Response of national post offices
Response of established B2B / B2C carriers
Market size and growth
Segment drivers 16
Historical GDP
Internet retail
Internet retail – international comparisons
Returns
Basket size
Returns rate
Trends in returns
Free returns
eBay / Amazon marketplace sales
Sales by category
Sales by country
Competitive landscape 30
Business Models
Networks
Brokers
Dedicated services from mainstream carriers
Profiles
DHL Service Points / Paketshops
La Poste (incl. DPD Pickup)
Hermes
MondialRelay
UPS Access Point
GLS
FedEx
TNT
InPost
Collect+
Doddle
MBE
Ipostparcels
Parcel2Go
Interparcel
Parcel Monkey
Packlink
LetMeShip
Hofert Transporte
Cargo International
iloxx eService
Boxtale SAS
Envoi2Colis
MGP Upela
Colis Voiturage SARL
Sendabox.it
Cheap Cargo Holding BV
Boekuwzending
ParcelParcel Group BV
P-O-S-T.nl
Parcel.nl BV / (Shippingcenter.nl)
uShip Europe BV
KurJerzy.pl
AlleKurier sp. z o.o.
Eurokurier Sp. z o.o. / (WysylajNajtaniej.pl)
R2G Polska Sp. z o.o / (Apaczka.pl)
BPS / (TwoiKurierzy.pl)
SBCI Sp. z o.o. / (Sender24.pl)
Fraktjakt.se
Bussgods.se
Budguiden.se
SwipBox
Country Markets 53
UK – Market size and growth
UK – Market drivers
UK historical GDP
Retail sales
Home shopping
Internet shopping and parcels volumes
Mail order
Marketplace sales
Population
UK – Competitive landscape
Royal Mail
Other providers
Service price comparison
Carrier satisfaction
Carrier volumes
Network size
Revenue and Growth
Revenue per parcel
Profitability
Website rankings
UK – Forecasts
Market forecast
Market share trend Implications
Germany
Market size and growth
Forecasts
Internet retail
Marketplace sales
Population
Competitive Landscape
France
Market size and growth
Forecasts
Internet retail
Marketplace sales
Population
Competitive Landscape
Italy
Market size and growth
Forecasts
Internet retail
Marketplace sales
Population
Competitive Landscape
Spain
Market size and growth
Forecasts
Internet retail
Marketplace sales
Population
Competitive Landscape
Netherlands
Market size and growth
Forecasts
Internet retail
Marketplace sales
Population
Competitive Landscape
Belgium
Market size and growth
Forecasts
Internet retail
Marketplace sales
Population
Competitive Landscape
Poland
Market size and growth
Forecasts
Internet retail
Marketplace sales
Population
Competitive Landscape
Forecasts 112
GDP
Home shopping sales
Marketplace sales
Market forecast
Risks to the forecast & implications for key participants
National postal services
Networks
Brokers
Appendix 119
Glossary of terms
List of charts and tables
Number of post offices by country / 000
Average number of inhabitants served by each post office in 2013 / '000
Number of parcel shop and locker bank locations by country
European market volume by country / millions of parcels
Segment volume and growth by sub-segment / millions
European GDP growth: 2009-14 / annual % change
European GDP growth by country: 2009-14 / CAGR %
Internet retail sales by country / €bn
Internet retail as % of GDP
Internet shopping returns rate by category of item / %
% of leading retailers offering free returns by country
% of leading UK internet retailers offering free returns
When you can charge returns costs to customers, do you intend to do so?
eBay UK Revenue / $bn
eBay Global Marketplaces revenue / $bn
eBay Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) / $bn
Average selling price of merchandise on eBay UK and volume / £, millions
eBay sales by category / % of total sales
eBay marketplace sales index by country
UK consumers’ parcel sending frequency
2009-15 population growth by country / average annual % change
Collections as a percentage of total parcel shop volume by country
List of company profiles
UK Segment volume and growth by sub-segment / millions
UK real GDP / % annual changes
UK retail sales growth / % annual change
UK Mail order and internet retail / £bn
eBay sales index / highest = 100
Population growth in the UK 2010-16 / annual % change
C2X parcels volumes: Royal Mail vs. others / millions of parcels
Number of UK Post Offices by year
Service price comparison / £
Customer satisfaction distribution
Types of problems
Past Switching Behaviour / % of customers who switched
Customer switching behaviour / previous carrier used
Satisfaction level by carrier
Volumes / millions
Number of locations
Revenue per location / £’000
Last three years’ revenue / £m
Annual revenue growth rate over the latest three years / CAGR %
Revenue per parcel / £
Gross and Operating margin / %
Alexa internet traffic ranking – UK ranking
UK GDP real GDP / % annual changes - Historical and forecast
Consumer and small business parcels volume forecast, by segment / millions
Royal Mail and others’ segment share trends / millions of parcels
Consumer and small business parcels volume by segment / millions
Internet retail, 2010-20 / €bn
Internet retail as percentage of GDP vs European average
eBay sales index / highest = 100
Population growth in Germany 2010-16 / annual % change
Consumer and small business parcels volume by segment / millions
Internet retail, 2010-20 / €bn
Internet retail as percentage of GDP vs European average
eBay sales index / highest = 100
Population growth in France 2010-16 / annual % change
Consumer and small business parcels volume by segment / millions
Internet retail, 2010-20 / €bn
Internet retail as percentage of GDP vs European average
eBay sales index / highest = 100
Population in Italy 2010-16 / annual % change
Consumer and small business parcels volume by segment / millions
Internet retail, 2010-20 / €bn
Internet retail as percentage of GDP vs European average
eBay sales index / highest = 100
Population growth in Spain 2010-16 / annual % change
Consumer and small business parcels volume by segment / millions
Internet retail, 2010-20 / €bn
Internet retail as percentage of GDP vs European average
eBay sales index / highest = 100
Population growth in the Netherlands 2010-16 / annual % change
Consumer and small business parcels volume by segment / millions
Internet retail, 2010-20 / €bn
Internet retail as percentage of GDP vs European average
eBay sales index / highest = 100
Population growth in Belgium 2010-16 / annual % change
Consumer and small business parcels volume by segment / millions
Internet retail, 2010-20 / €bn
Internet retail as percentage of GDP vs European average
eBay sales index / highest = 100
Population growth in Poland 2010-16 / annual % change
European GDP growth: 2009-19 / annual % change
European GDP growth by country: 2009-14, 2014-19 / CAGR %
European internet retail by country 2009 to 2019 / €bn
Consumer and small business parcels volume forecast, by country / millions
Consumer and small business parcels volume forecast, by segment / millions
