Independent parcel carrier Yodel has released its trading update for the first half (H1) of the financial year 2023 (FY23) which showed a significant rise in parcel volumes compared to the previous year.
Overall, the company noted an increase in volumes across peak season (Week 18-26; Nov – Dec 2022) of 17% compared to the same period in 2021. Additionally, its C2C volumes for H1 FY23 increased 162% year on year. The update also showed a 33% increase in parcels delivered by pedal power in peak season.
During this period, the company also initiated plans to open a brand-new 161,900ft2 depot in Huyton in the UK, which is due to open in the summer of 2023. Alongside this, Yodel invested over £7.5m (US$8.9m) into its fleet, with 100 new trailers and 60 additional tractor units – 45 of these units featured larger windshields for better visibility and greater fuel efficiency to ensure compliance with upcoming legislation.
The company also developed its customer-facing app, with new features such as a two-hour delivery window for every parcel delivered to a door and delivered images implemented. Consequently, the time taken for first-time resolution of customer queries has reportedly fallen by almost 50% with 2.7 million downloads of the app since its relaunch in 2021 and higher user ratings.
Mike Hancox, CEO of Yodel, commented, “FY23 has seen Yodel continuing to build on the strong results we have seen over the last two years, with more new client wins. The success of our peak season was fueled by the spike in consumer-to-consumer parcel volumes through Yodel Direct and is testament to the tireless work of our colleagues across the country.
“Over the past year, to service our growing demand, we’ve made significant investments in our fleet. This has provided greater efficiency and a safer and more sustainable service. We’ve also announced brand-new sites, including Huyton, and Merseyside, to bolster our operations and build capacity into our nationwide network and announced our head office relocation to Speke, Liverpool. Finally, we continued to enhance our customer service offering by updating our customer app to provide more transparent communications throughout the delivery journey.”
Read more key parcel updates from the parcel and postal technology industry, here.