A continued surge in goods bought online by Irish consumers has resulted in parcel volumes handled by Nightline, the country's largest independent delivery firm, increasing by almost a third in a year.
The Nightline Group has reported a 30% increase in parcels with a "significant" proportion generated by orders placed with UK-based retailers. The company now handles 1.2 million parcels per month, a figure expected to almost double in the final weeks before Christmas. Another milestone was reached during the last 12 months with the Parcel Motel locker system launched in July 2012 processing its two millionth parcel.
The year-round rise in business prompted Group CEO and co-founder John Tuohy to describe 2015 as the best in Nightline's 23-year history. He said a growth in parcel numbers and employees reflected Nightline's ability to meet the e-commerce success of clients with more first-time deliveries.
"It's been a tremendous year with an increase in parcel traffic not merely confined to the pre-Christmas peak but spread across the year. Over the last 12 months, we have become the carrier partner of choice for more UK retailers selling to Irish shoppers and, in turn, they have made great strides in terms of sales to the Republic.
"Greater parity between the euro and the British pound, coupled with the way that we can tackle the high cost of direct shipping between the UK and Ireland, has also made it an even more attractive form of shopping for consumers," he pointed out.
Figures recently made available by a retail trade association suggested that Ireland had sustained one of the Europe's strongest rates of growth in internet shopping in the last three years, outstripping even the UK. Ireland was ranked as Western Europe's fourth biggest e-commerce market with €5.3 billion worth of sales in 2014.
Nightline now employs 800 people across a network of 11 depots spanning the entire island of Ireland and plans are "firmly in place" to expand the firm's operations in the near future.
