CATEGORY
Courier, Express, and Parcel Services
Couriers are usually employed by a company that charges a flat rate to the party using the courier service. Federal Express, UPS, DHL, and the United States Post Office all employ couriers to deliver mail and packages.
Beroe LiVE.Ai™
AI-powered self-service platform for all your sourcing decision needs across 1,200+ categories like Courier, Express, and Parcel Services.
Market Data, Sourcing & Supplier Intelligence, and Price & Cost Benchmarking.
Schedule a DemoCategory Alerts
NZ Post Deliveries Delayed due to Severe Weather Condition
February 20, 2023FedEx To Cut Top Management Jobs as A Part of Cost- Cutting Efforts
February 08, 2023Australia Post to Report Financial Loss for the First Time Since 2015
February 08, 2023Become a Beroe LiVE.Ai™ Subscriber to receive proactive alerts on Courier, Express, and Parcel Services
Schedule a DemoCourier, Express, and Parcel Services Market Monitoring Dashboard
Understand the correlation between costs, margins, and prices impacting your category on a real time basis on Beroe LiVE.Ai™
Schedule a DemoCourier, Express, and Parcel Services Industry Benchmarks
Savings Achieved
(in %)
The average annual savings achieved in Courier, Express, and Parcel Services category is 6.40%
Payment Terms
(in days)
The industry average payment terms in Courier, Express, and Parcel Services category for the current quarter is 33.5 days
Compare your category performance against peers and industry benchmarks across 20+ parameters on Beroe LiVE.Ai™
Category Strategy and Flexibility
Engagement Model
Supply Assurance
Sourcing Process
Supplier Type
Pricing Model
Contract Length
SLAs/KPIs
Lead Time
Supplier Diversity
Targeted Savings
Risk Mitigation
Financial Risk
Sanctions
AMEs
Geopolitical Risk
Cost Optimization
Price per Unit Competitiveness
Specification Leanness
Minimum Order Quality
Payment Terms
Inventory Control
The World’s first Digital Market Analyst
Abi, the AI-powered digital assistant brings together data, insights, and intelligence for faster answers to sourcing questions
Abi is now supercharged with GPT4 AI engine. Enjoy the ease of ChatGPT, now on Abi

Use the Courier, Express, and Parcel Services market, supplier and price information for category strategy creation and Quaterly Business Reviews (QRBs)
Schedule a DemoCourier, Express, and Parcel Services market frequently asked questions
The top global service providers in the courier, express, and parcel industry are Deutsche Express, FedEx, UPS, TNT, and Express Yamato Holdings.
The factors responsible for the growth of the courier, express, and parcel CEP market are mentioned as follows. -- E-commerce: The trillion-dollar e-commerce industry depends on CEP service providers to fulfill the demands of their consumers. -- Global import and export activity: There's an increased production of goods and trade expansion as the global economy makes continued shifts towards services delivery. This has resulted in increased imports and exports among the member countries. -- GDP: GDP is an indicator of economic parameters, such as manufacturing, trade, and consumer spending that directly impacts the courier industry.
As found from the courier service market analysis, the proliferation of technology and digitization is reducing the volume of physical mail thereby affecting the CEP market. Moreover, the rise in fuel prices lead to low-profit margins for service providers.
The courier, express and parcel market is highly mature in North America and Western Europe, with fierce competition among the top global suppliers. The market is emerging in the APAC region and the Middle East due to the rise of e-commerce business and service providers. The CEP market is highly fragmented in these regions.
Courier, Express, and Parcel Services market report transcript
Global CEP Industry Outlook
MARKET OVERVIEW
Global Market Size: $443.9 (2023 F)
Growth Rate (2020–2023 F): 4.59 percent
CAGR (2023-2028 F): 4.89 percent
-
The global CEP market is expected to reach a revenue of $443.9 billion by 2023 growing at a CAGR of 4-5 percent. The market is driven by e-commerce. Due to supply chain challenges and rising inflation, the world's e-commerce business is predicted to generate $3.74 trillion in sales for 2022, $95 billion less than it will in 2021
-
The market is expected to see low demand until Q2 2023, due to various factors, such as high inflation pressure, fuel price hikes, labor strikes. Due to inflationary pressure and labor strikes, revenue generation and compensation for increasing operating cost comes as priority for the courier players, hence, they are implementing higher GRIs and surcharges for 2023 even though the market is expected to see lower demand
Regional Market Outlook :North America
Growth Drivers and Market Trends
-
Retailers and courier firms are under pressure to match the rising customer demand for faster moving shipments
-
The e-commerce has grown steadily, so has the daily amount of parcel shipments
-
To address the issue of last mile delivery, retailers are experimenting with alternative logistical methods and startup partners, such as crowdsourced deliveries
-
There is also increased trend of parcel lockers in the region. Around 77,000 PUDO delivery terminals are available in the US through international couriers like FedEx, Amazon, UPS, DHL, and USPS
Cost Structure Analysis
-
Labor occupies a major chunk of share in courier cost structure, with 41 percent in North America, 37 percent in Europe and Asia
-
Second major cost driver is fuel with North America 20 percent, Europe 20 percent, and Asia 22 percent
-
Secondary factors, such as admin cost, repair and maintenance, do not have that much of an impact in the cost structure compared to labor and fuel. With the ongoing geopolitical crisis, buyers can expect an increase of 8–15 percent in their courier cost structure across major geographies, such as North America and Europe
-
Fuel and labor are the major impactful cost drivers. The current geopolitical issue has had a negative impact on both these factors impacting the entire cost structure
-
It is predicted that freight capacity would gradually improve. However, the rise in jet fuel prices, driven by low oil stockpiles and anticipated incoming demand, may hinder the easing of freight rates
-
Demand is expected to remain soft for 2023, due to factors, such as shortage of labors, economy slowdown, high fuel prices, high inflationary pressure, etc. Courier companies are however increasing prices and imposing surcharges despite the predicted volume decline to cope with increasing operating cost
Procurement Best Practices
- This section gives a detailed analysis of the Courier, Express, and Parcel Services Suppliers, Cost Analysis, Cost Breakdown by Country, Pricing Analysis, Sourcing Model - Key Insights, Pros, and Cons, Comparative Analysis
Commodity Price Forecast
Fuel price hike, labor wage increase, high inflation are factors negatively affecting the price index.
-
North America: North American PPI courier index sees index values reach 164.1 by 2022 end. The index is expected to see a further increase of 1-2 percent for Q1 2023 to reach an index value of 165.7
-
Europe: European PPI courier index sees index values to reach 108.2 by 2022 end. The index is expected to see a further increase of 1-2 percent for Q1 2023 to reach an index value of 109.2
-
Asia: Asian PPI courier index sees index values to reach 111.4 by 2022 end. The index is expected to see a further increase of 1-2 percent for Q1 2023 to reach an index value of 112.5
Courier, Express, and Parcel Services Market Overview
Market Overview : US
-
The US courier parcel volumes is expected to reach about $24 billion by the end of 2022
-
The market is predicted to see further increase in parcel volumes to reach about 26 billion parcels by 2023
-
The market is dominated by UPS & FedEx holding 70 percent of the market share, in terms of revenue
-
In terms of volume, USPS tops the market with market share of 32 percent, followed by UPS & FedEx each holding 24 percent and 19 percent of market shares, respectively
Market Overview : Canada
-
The market is expected to see parcel volumes reaching 1.7 billion by end of 2022
-
The market is predicted to see volume growth of 5-6 percent in 2023 with volume reaching 1.8 billion parcels
-
The market is dominated by UPS, Canada Post and Purolator holding 61 percent of the market share in terms of revenue
-
In terms of volume, Canada Post occupies 20 percent of the market share, while Purolator occupies 12 percent of the market share
Sourcing Models for CEP Services
-
Single sourcing: Shippers with a high volume of domestic and limited international shipments adopt a single–sourcing strategy in order to secure the maximum discount on rates and incentives on volume. In order to mitigate the risk of dependency, shippers can engage with another supplier as a secondary carrier
-
Multiple sourcing: Shippers with a significant volume of international express adopt multiple–sourcing strategies in order to secure the regional expertise of respective suppliers. In addition, the risk of supply disruption is also low, with decreased dependency on primary carriers. However, the scope of availing discounts on high spend is reduced
Why You Should Buy This Report
- The market report on courier industry analysis offers insights about the global and regional industry trends, logistics services trends, drivers and constraints, regional outlook of APAC, Europe, and North America, and Porter’s five forces analysis of the emerging and developed regions.
- The regional courier market analysis covers the aspects of market maturity, best practices, and the industry share of North America (US, Canada), Western Europe (UK, France, Germany, Italy), APAC (India, China, Australia, New Zealand) and MEA.
- It breaks down the cost structure and offers the best sourcing and pricing models.
- It also presents the aspects of the courier industry such as courier, express and parcel services, logistics and transportation, inland transportation services, courier and parcel, post and parcel, mail and parcel delivery, express parcel and mail, postal services, courier delivery and pick up, last-mile delivery services, same-day delivery, express parcel, overnight delivery, click and collect service, and CEP.
- Further, this report on courier industry trends provides key supplier profiles and SWOT analysis of players such as FedEx, DHL, and UPS.
Interesting Reads:
Discover the world of market intelligence and how it can elevate your business strategies.
Learn more about how market intelligence can enable informed decision-making, help identify growth opportunities, manage risks, and shape your business's strategic direction.