German CEP industry could deliver 330m B2C parcels this Christmas, study finds
for UPS and other CEP firms
The German courier, express and parcel (CEP) market generated solid growth of nearly 6% in the first half of 2018 and is heading for another record year, with up to 10% more B2C parcels in the forthcoming peak season, according to the German Parcel and Express Logistics Association (BIEK).
In the first half of this year, the number of shipments rose by 5.9%, driven by a 6% increase in parcel volumes. Express and courier shipments also increased significantly by 5.4% in the first half of the year, a study by researchers KE-CONSULT Kurte&Esser GbR on behalf of BIEK found.
"This year's positive development again demonstrates the enormous capacity and efficiency of the infrastructure networks and the quality of the services provided by the CEP companies," said Marten Bosselmann, BIEK’s managing director. "In order to successfully cope with the increasing volume of consignments, they are continuously making extensive investments in personnel, vehicles, handling infrastructure and innovative delivery concepts.”
BIEK expects strong growth of 8% to 10% in B2C shipments this Christmas compared to 2017. Delivery to end customers will increase by 30 million shipments to 330 million B2C shipments over the Christmas period compared to the previous year.
At peak times, more than 18 million items are transported on a single day in the companies' networks. Deutsche Post DHL alone expects to deliver about 11 million parcels a day in this year’s peak season, according to CEO Frank Appel.
In order to cope with this shipment volume, around 25,000 additional delivery staff will be employed by CEP companies this Christmas, BIEK noted.
For 2018 as a whole, the association now expects the German CEP market to top €20 billion for the first time with more than 3.5 billion consignments in total.
