Holiday shipping got off to a robust start, with parcel volume and on-time delivery reaching new heights.
Based on an analysis of 2.5 billion shipping events and tens of millions of packages shipped during the Black Friday through Cyber Monday frame, retailers are on track to meet shoppers’ high expectations for smooth delivery experiences this holiday season, even as they deliver more orders than ever, according to Convey Inc., a last-mile delivery experience software company.
According to Convey, shipment volume increased 27 percent over last year. This is in line with overall spending for the Thanksgiving weekend, when retailers saw online sales rise more than 19 percent on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Exceptions, or a temporary delay in transit, were down 17 percent this year. Convey data shows 9.5 percent of all packages shipped since Thanksgiving experienced an exception, which is a decrease from 11.1 percent in 2018.
The on-time percentage for shipments that went out on the five days of Cyber Week improved 7 percent this year for the top three carriers. Close to 90 percent of packages arrived within their original estimated delivery date (EDD), up from 82.3 percent last year.
On-time percentages for the period for USPS and FedEx parcel carriers improved this year, with 88 percent of FedEx shipments arriving within their original EDD, up from 80 percent last year. UPS fared better, with 91.6 percent of shipments arriving within their EDD compared to 86 percent last year.
Third-party logistics (3PL) provider Geodis said it shipped 23 million units in the U.S., to set a new shipping volume record between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.
The record-breaking increase was driven largely by the continued and growing trend of online holiday shopping.
“The holiday season is the most critical time for our customers whose businesses hinge on Geodis getting their products to consumers on-time for every single order,” Randy Tucker, president and CEO of Geodis Americas, said.
“As volume increases, we are constantly seeking ways to strengthen our productivity,” Tucker said. “We do this through innovation in our warehouses, while also providing our talented workforce with the most robust environment and technologies so that we can be as successful as possible.”