A recent report by Courier Exchange, titled “The European Delivery Innovator Index Report” [1] has confirmed that the UK is well placed to embrace innovation in the delivery services market, having been ranked 5th out of the 16 countries reviewed. Four European countries were excluded from the report due to a lack of available open source data. This data pleasingly places the UK ahead of Sweden and Spain but with some work to do to catch up with the Netherlands and Germany.
The study compared open source data from a number of European countries to understand and assess the readiness levels of each country to adopt technological advances, improvements in sustainability and future-proof infrastructure in order to drive improvements in courier delivery in the UK services industry.
The study recognises that changes will be largely driven by government commitment to reducing greenhouse gases and the ever-increasing customer desire for more sustainable supply chains. Noting that many Brits rely heavily on courier delivery in the UK every day and with data showing that the e-commerce market has tripled in size from 2015 to 2021, these demands are likely to see courier firms working to streamline their processes, make better use of artificial intelligence and reduce their reliance on polluting petrol and diesel vehicles.
It is anticipated that when one country successfully implements innovative practices that deliver significant enhancements to the customer experience, increased profits or reduced downtime, other countries will follow suit and it is hoped that this baseline report will show improvement across all areas over the coming years.
With the courier UK market looking to achieve a 7% growth year on year over the next five years, this report signals that whilst many great improvements to the industry are planned, we are in a good starting position and well placed to capitalise on existing and planned infrastructure to deliver a profitable, successful future.
Resources:
[1] https://courierexchange.co.uk/blog/the-european-delivery-innovator-index/
[2] https://www.commercialfleet.org/news/van-news/2022/11/15/first-hydrogen-reveals-first-zero-emission-van
[3] https://nationalhighways.co.uk/delivery-plan/