Last year, the volume of online shopping packages in the United States hit a new high! UPS, Amazon and other companies achieved outstanding results

It is learned that according to the latest Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index, US parcel volume increased by 6% in 2021 to a record 21.5 billion pieces, higher than 20.3 billion pieces in 2020. Total carrier revenue exceeded US$188 billion, up 16% from US$163 billion in 2020.

The latest index shows that the United States generated 59 million packages per day in 2021, a total of about 683 packages per second, compared with 56 million per day in 2020. The per capita package volume in the United States rose from 62 to 65. Pitney Bowes predicts that the number of packages in the United States will reach 25-40 billion by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 5%-10% from 2022 to 2027.

Key highlights of the latest index include:

1. Package volume

·U.S. package volume reached 21.5 billion in 2021, up from 20.3 billion in 2020, an increase of 6%.

By volume, USPS delivered 6.9 billion packages in 2021, down from 7.3 billion in 2020; UPS delivered 5.3 billion packages in 2021, up from 4.9 billion; FedEx delivered 4.2 billion packages, up from 3.7 billion. Amazon Logistics delivered 4.8 billion packages, and the four major carriers delivered 98% of the packages in the United States.

Package volumes for other smaller carriers increased by a combined 94%.

2. Carrier Income

Carriers generated $188 billion in parcel revenue, up 16% year-over-year from $163 billion.

UPS generated the highest revenue at $70 billion, followed by FedEx ($62 billion), USPS ($31.5 billion), Amazon Logistics ($22 billion), and other smaller carriers with a combined revenue of $3 billion.

In terms of revenue growth, UPS's revenue increased by 16% year-on-year, FedEx's revenue increased by 21%, USPS's revenue was flat, and other retailers' revenue increased by 95%.

3. Carrier Market Share

UPS generated the highest parcel market share by revenue at 37%, followed by FedEx (33%), USPS (17%), and Amazon Logistics (12%).

USPS had the highest market share by volume (32%, down from 36% in 2020); followed by UPS (24%, the same as in 2020); Amazon Logistics (22%, up from 21%) and FedEx (19%, up from 18%).

4. Amazon Logistics

Revenue grew 19% year-over-year to $22 billion.

Parcel volume growth slowed to 13% from 112% in 2020.

In 2021, Amazon generated 8.4 billion packages, of which 57% or 4.8 billion packages were delivered by Amazon Logistics, and 43% or 3.6 billion packages were transferred to operators for last-mile delivery. In 2020, Amazon transferred 2.8 billion packages to carriers for last-mile delivery.

A Pitney Bowes survey of U.S. shoppers in April 2022 found that 23% of U.S. consumers said they shopped online more in 2021 than earlier in 2022.

“Last year, the industry was impacted by external influences as carriers continued to deal with the effects of the pandemic,” said Jason Dies, executive vice president and president of Send Technology Solutions at Pitney Bowes. “Despite these challenges, carriers continued to achieve record revenue and package volumes, demonstrating the resiliency of American consumers and the industry’s ability to absorb their growing demand for internet retail.”

Editor✎ Ashley/

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