Parcel delivery firm Evri gives peak trading update, with record parcel volumes across the period

Evri says that it delivered record parcel volumes over its peak festive period, including its best ever week following Black Friday, as customers shopped for bargains amidst caution over household budgets.

The biggest week in its 50-year history saw the company deliver 24.7 million parcels (to 7th December 2024) as post-Black Friday deliveries rose by 20.8% on the same period in 2023.

This was followed by weeks of high demand post Black Friday and Cyber Monday as consumers left it late to grab deals from online retailers, putting their trust in last minute deliveries.

Martijn De Lange, Chief Executive at Evri, says: “We continue to see fast growth towards our five-year target to become a billion parcel a year business and the Christmas trading period was no exception with our delivery volumes demonstrating that retailers online offerings fared much better than expected. We saw record volumes of deliveries and double digit growth as generous shoppers treated loved ones and friends.” 

“During a festive season that saw approximately 40 million UK adults doing most of their Christmas shopping online, the investments in our network and customer service paid off – sustaining our yearly average of more than 99% of standard parcels being delivered on time. We recruited an extra 9,000 people to prepare for our busiest trading period and our amazing couriers and colleagues stopped at nothing as they came together to deliver for our retail clients and shoppers.”

Evri grew total parcel volumes by 12% to 173 million over the nine weeks to 28th December 2024, despite the disruption caused by volatile weather, such as Storm Darragh in early December. On average it delivered 2.7 million parcels a day over this period as almost 4,000 parcels reached UK households every minute, with deliveries rising to almost 3.8 million on its busiest day on 4th December.

Volume from domestic retailers was up 6.9%, while overseas inbound trade from online retailers and marketplaces delivered strong growth, with volumes up 24% year on year as customers focussed on value. 

Evri also saw strong demand from its e-commerce segment as the growth in online marketplaces and social media shopping continues to be a growing part of consumers’ retail habits.

2024 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Online delivery was a key focus area at the sixth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards, sponsored by Vista Technology Support, Scala, CADS, 3D Cloud, Brightpearl by Sage’s Lightning 50, Business France, and Retail Technology Show 2025, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering.