Delivery Comparison Site Parcel2Go See a Surge in Demand During Covid-19 Pandemic
Jun 25, 2020
Just about every aspect of life is different in 2020 due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Unsurprisingly with so many people housebound, there has been an incredible surge in the parcel industry with people both ordering a lot more online while also sending more parcels too whether this is to loved ones or returning goods.
People Buying More Online
Data shows that people have embraced online shopping during the lockdown, with an increase of 21% in orders in March compared to a year earlier. Additionally, almost half of the respondents stated that they were biting items online which they would usually buy in-store, showing that even before the full lockdown people were increasing their online shopping habits.
Surge In Demand For Parcel2Go
One business which has certainly had their hands full with this increase in demand is parcel delivery comparison site Parcel2Go. Head of Commercial Ashley Taylor explained how it is both online shopping and parcel sending which has increased:
“Since the COVID-19 Pandemic Parcel2Go has seen an incredible surge in demand. As consumers have been home bound, there has been a surge in online purchases via retailers & marketplaces, as well as people sending items to loved ones. As a result, more & more people & SME’s have been looking for shipping solutions which met their needs. As Parcel2Go offer access to nearly all major UK couriers, we’ve seen over 10,000 new customers a week come to Parcel2Go to access courier services via our website. Couple this with an increase in items being shipped via our existing customers, we’ve seen 400,000 parcels a week being shipped through the comparison website.”
How They Have Managed
Ashley explained how the business has managed to keep up with demand during the lockdown:
"A noticeable trend we have seen is a noticeable uptick in customers wanting their items collected from home as opposed to going to their local store to drop their parcels off. We also encouraged this by offering discounts on some of our collection products to assist our customers. We also worked with some of our partners to offer new collection products to deal with the new demand.”
New Partnerships
These partnerships are with popular online community marketplaces Shpock and GumTree which allow people to easily buy and sell second-hand goods online - there has been a sharp rise in this during the pandemic with people looking to raise money while also decluttering the home. With these partnerships, people are able to safely send and collect parcels with a contact-free service.
It has been a strange time for everyone in lockdown and it is no surprise that there has been a surge in online shopping and sending parcels. Parcel2Go know all about this and have responded brilliantly by forming these partnerships and being able to keep up with the incredible surge in demand even without much prior warning prior to the start of lockdown in March.
