Pitney Bowes released its annual U.S. Parcel Shipping Index on Wednesday, and it was a great year for Amazon.
The shipping giant showed an impressive 15.7% increase in parcel volumes compared to the previous year, passing UPS and closing in on the US Postal Service, which remains the leader with FedEx being fourth.
UPS and FedEx both experienced declines in parcel volume and revenue, reflecting a challenging year for the two major carriers. Despite inflation and economic uncertainties stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon Logistics and USPS managed to sustain revenue growth.
Despite tripling its shipping volumes from 2019 to 2023 (from 2 billion to 5.9 billion parcels), Amazon remains fourth in revenue ($28.6B), generating less than half of UPS ($68.9B) and FedEx ($63.2B).
“The legacy players are still adapting as the delivery landscape shifts to favor natively direct-to-consumer parcel networks that are designed from the start to serve residential deliveries, such as the USPS, Amazon Logistics, and specialized/localized carriers,” said Vijay Ramachandran, VP of Go-to-Market Enablement and Experience at Pitney Bowes.
“While parcel volume growth has shifted from double to single digits, consumers’ appetites for 'real-time retail,’ or affordable goods that are brought to market based on fast-moving trends, will continue to elevate parcel volumes well beyond the effects of the pandemic.”
Closer look at the numbers
Carrier Volume
While U.S. parcel volume didn’t change significantly from 2022, total volume was up 0.5% from 21.5 billion in 2022 to 21.7 billion in 2023. Additionally, 2023 was the first time in the Index’s history that Amazon Logistics—the only carrier that did not see a decline—surpassed UPS in parcel volume.
- The USPS generated the highest parcel volume, at 6.6 billion parcels and down almost 1% from last year.
- This was followed by Amazon Logistics generating 5.9 billion parcels, up 15.7% from the previous year.
- UPS declined 10.3% from the previous year to 4.6 billion parcels.
- FedEx declined 6.1% from 4.1 billion in 2022 to 3.9 billion in 2023.
- The “others” category grew 28.5% in 2023, from 0.5 billion to 0.6 billion parcels.
Carrier Revenue
In 2023, U.S. parcel revenue declined slightly for the first time in 7 years by 0.3% from $198.4 billion in 2022 to $197.9 billion, reflecting high capacity built after the pandemic and intense competition.
- UPS generated the highest parcel revenue of the major carriers at $68.9 billion, down 6.4% year-over-year.
- This was followed by FedEx at $63.2 billion, down 3.1% from last year.
- USPS increased 0.8% to $31.7 billion from $31.4 billion in 2022.
- Amazon Logistics grew 19% to $28.6 billion from $24 billion in the previous year. It also saw the highest CAGR 2016 – 2023 at 60%.
- The “others” category had the most significant revenue growth of 32.5% in one year, to $5.6 billion in 2023 from $4.3 billion in 2022.
Market Share by Volume
- USPS continues to have the largest market share (31%).
- For the first time in the Index’s history, Amazon Logistics became the second provider with the largest market share (27%), surpassing UPS.
- UPS fell to third place with a 21% market share.
- The “others” category increased its share from 2% to almost 3% of the market.
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