E-commerce is responsible for generating two in every three parcels sent in the UK.

Online retail growth continues to be driven by advances in fulfilment, easier returns, new technology and ease of shopping. Clothing and footwear is the fastest growing sector online. It’s also driving returns of online purchases. They are forecast to reach £5.4 billion in 2022.

As consumers and businesses continue to shift their preferences to online retailing, retailers of all sizes have to work harder to stay relevant. Royal Mail Group is proud to be the delivery partner of choice for many of these businesses. In 2017-18, parcels accounted for around 59 per cent of revenue compared to around 50 per cent five years ago.

Technology and innovation are a core part of our growth strategy. We’re investing in digital capabilities across the Group, particularly in e-commerce, customer connectivity and scanning, to make sure we stay ahead of market developments.

UK Parcels, International & Letters (UKPIL)

We’re proud to be the most trusted and most recommended parcel delivery company in the UK. Our Net Promoter Score is 40 – over 10 points higher than our nearest competitor.

We also deliver good value for money. In February 2018, Ofcom found that 77 per cent of residential consumers were either fairly or very satisfied with the value for money of postal services. That’s a two percentage point increase year-on-year.

We provide simple, flexible and value for money postage choices for the UK’s SMEs. This year we integrated a number of additional e-commerce platforms and online marketplaces into our Click & Drop service. They include Shopify, Magento and Not On The High Street.

Parcelforce Worldwide is expanding its range of digital tools to enable customers to send parcels quicker and more easily. It launched its own app to give customers more control over their deliveries. We also launched the Parcelforce one-hour delivery timeslot notification and 'My Parcel Live'.

GLS

At GLS, we’ve successfully expanded several new B2C services across Europe: FlexDeliveryService, ShopReturnService and ShopDeliveryService. We’ve also introduced a range of IT systems to improve the parcel process, such as scanning devices and customer tracking systems.

The largest European B2C parcels markets outside the UK are Germany, Italy and France – GLS’s largest markets. Having recently expanded its international FlexDeliveryService across 20 European countries, GLS is well placed to capitalise on opportunities for growth, particularly in cross-border parcels.