Australia Courier, Express, and Parcel (CEP) Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Australia Courier, Express, and Parcel (CEP) Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Australia’s CEP market is expected to exhibit a CAGR of more than 6% over the forecast period. As reported by the International Trade Association (ITA) in September 2020, Australia is the eleventh-largest e-commerce market in the world, expected to reach USD 32.3 billion by 2024.

With the infiltration of the COVID pandemic, as reported by Australia Post, there were over 200,000 new online shoppers that entered the market, while a million more people started shopping online every week as compared to the average in 2019 driving the demand for faster delivery with flexible delivery options. Australia’s online sales volumes with effect to COVID-19, have already hit peaks in the month of April 2020 which are 20% higher than Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in the year 2019.

The e-commerce market in Australia has contributed significantly to strengthen the parcel shipping market. According to the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index, Australians shipped 934 million parcels in 2019, with an average of 37 parcels shipped per person in the year. The growth in e-commerce is driven by the popularity of the sales events and marketplaces, the introduction of ‘buy now pay later’ payment options, affordable logistics and faster deliveries with next business day deliveries growing significantly, at 21% year-on-year.

The players in the market also experience major challenges while operating in highly dense inner-city areas. Timely deliveries are crucial for the success of businesses, and for the long-term economic growth of metropolitan areas.

Key Market TrendsGrowing cross-border trade relations with other countries on various industries

In August 2020, Singapore and Australia signed the digital economy agreement that will open up economic opportunities for both countries. The agreement will facilitate the digitalization of trade processes and make it easier and more cost-effective for Singaporean companies to engage in cross-border business activities with Australia.

The Singapore-Australia Digital Economy Agreement (Sadea) builds on Singapore and Australia's strong bilateral trade and investment flows to enhance economic opportunities in the digital realm. The agreement builds on Australia's and Singapore's leading roles in negotiating new international rules on e-commerce in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), to better facilitate the growing volumes of digital trade across the globe.

It is the second digital economy pact that Singapore has signed, following the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement with Chile and New Zealand in June 2020.

Healthcare sector creating opportunities for the CEP players

Victoria is the largest life sciences state in industry, with 32,849 employees across 372 organisations. New South Wales is the second-largest life sciences state, with 31,365 employees across 365 organizations. The two states represent almost 73% of the life sciences industry in Australia. The New South Wales (NSW) government is investing in creating state-of-the-art health infrastructure. A record AUD 8 billion has been committed to major capital programs between 2018 and 2022.

This investment is expected to observe the construction of new hospitals and healthcare facilities, as well as upgradation and redevelopments of the existing ones. During 2018-2026, NSW Health is likely to invest over AUD 500 million in eHealth initiatives to make sure that its technology continues to support the delivery of quality health services.

The rising healthcare expenditure, the growing awareness among people, and the delivery value chain of the pharma industry are driving the growth of CEP services in this sector. Other factors leading to the overall growth are increased governmental spending on social care and the increasing number of home healthcare delivery models designed by the existing market players. The expansion of express delivery systems in developed nations, such as Australia, is a key contributor to better healthcare delivery models with enhanced services. Growth in the ‘same day’ medical courier service may spur revenue growth considerably.

Competitive Landscape

The Australian CEP market is highly competitive, with the presence of major international players. With a few players holding a significant share, the Australian CEP market has an observable level of consolidation. The market is dominated by 3 top carriers, namely, Australia Post, Toll Group and FedEx.

As several start-ups are entering into the market to leverage digital technologies, there is a trend of large companies acquiring these start-ups to gain a significant footprint in the market. Delivery startups including Deliveroo and Uber Eats are active in Australia. Local startups include Passel, Sendle, Go People and Zoom2U.

There is a growing trend of mergers and acquisitions in the industry, as suppliers seek to attract volume and extend their network in order to deal with the growing parcel demand. For instance, Australia Post has formed an alliance with Aramex, Alibaba, China Post and Qantas for global e-commerce delivery capabilities.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

Companies Mentioned

Deutsche Post DHL Group
United Parcel Service Inc.
FedEx Corporation
Australian Postal Corporation
Couriers Please(part of Singapore Post)
Toll Group
Direct Couriers Pty Ltd
Allied Express
Kings Transport
Fastway Couriers*

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