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Asia Pacific overtaken by North America as the largest e-commerce logistics market as the sector is expected to grow 7.9% in 2023
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More than 1.8m pick-up and drop off (PUDO) locations globally, of which 1.2 million are parcel shops
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Funding for e-commerce logistics start-ups slows in 2022 amid the economic downturn
Asia Pacific has been overtaken by North America as the largest e-commerce logistics market as the global market is expected to grow 7.9% in 2023 after shrinking 5% in 2022, Transport Intelligence says in its latest report.
North America’s e-commerce logistics market is now valued at €162.46 billion (US$179.10 billion), the report said.
Although year-on-year growth is expected to be slower than the extraordinary highs of 2020 and 2021 (2020: 28% and 2021: 19.9%) in the face of a softer macroeconomic outlook, the market is expected to recover its 2022 losses, reaching a value of €451.24 billion.
The report, “Global E-commerce Logistics 2023” written by analyst Nia Hudson and editor Paul Chapman and released on March 2, Ti Insight blamed slowing demand in the West, as well as the effects of the war in Ukraine, inflation, disrupted global supply chains and depressed consumer spending for last year’s market decline.
In its 2022 edition, the report said that Asia Pacific, North America and Europe accounted for more than 95% of the €441.47 billion global e-commerce logistics market at the time.
The 2023 report, however, should not detract from the fact e-commerce remains firmly entrenched in buying behaviors, and the market remains larger than before the pandemic, Ti said.
The report from Ti, the Bath, UK-based leading provider of market research to the global logistics industry, shows that the market is expected to grow 7.9% in 2023 as e-commerce continues on its long-term growth trajectory.
Chapman, Ti’s senior editor, said the e-commerce logistics market experienced a significant spike in growth during the Covid lockdown.
“These figures should therefore be viewed as a rebalancing of demand, as opposed to anything negative. Indeed, the e-commerce logistics market is ahead of where it was in 2019 by some measure,” Chapman said.
“e-Commerce sales, the main driver of demand, remains higher than pre-Covid levels, as pandemic buying behaviors continue to influence consumer spending choices and e-commerce volumes subsequently grow from a higher base than pre-pandemic, despite a slowing global market and conflict in Europe.”
The “Global e-Commerce Logistics Report,” written by industry researchers, analysts and associates, is one of several reports published each year by the Ti team using data from its GSCI knowledge portal, a data powerhouse with more than a million pieces of data and analyses.
The report takes an in-depth look at the core trends influencing the market, such as e-commerce retail sales, mergers & acquisitions and consolidation, pick-up and drop-off (PUDO) network growth and the growth of e-commerce logistics start-ups.
Other highlights of the report are:
- Parcel shops and lockers have grown significantly in recent years. It is estimated that there are more than 1.8 million PUDO locations globally, of which 1.2 million are parcel shops. PUDO networks continue to be expanded and new networks are being rolled out in most countries. A high percentage of the global population are now within a short distance of one or more PUDO locations.
- Growth and consolidation has run rampant in the e-Fulfilment market since the pandemic beginning as traditional 3PL providers have sought to acquire e-commerce logistics capabilities to provide either direct-to-consumer fulfilment or omnichannel solutions for clients.
- Funding for select e-commerce logistics start-ups slowed in 2022 amid a pronounced economic downturn and several macroeconomic headwinds.
- Automation is rapidly becoming a key success factor in e-commerce logistics by enabling increasingly quick fulfilment and distribution.
For more information on the “Global e-Commerce Logistics 2023” report, please visit:
ti-insight.com/product/global-e-commerce-logistics
