Leading e-commerce logistics data provider Parcel Monitor predicts a significant upswing in retail sales during the upcoming holiday season, based on its annual peak season forecast.
The U.S. e-commerce market is poised to conclude peak season this year with a projected parcel volume growth of as high as 17% (within a range of 3% to 17%) compared to the same time last year. As a result, Parcel Monitor predicts that sales will increase by approximately 42% over the Black Friday Cyber Monday period compared with the pre-BFCM period, in comparison to the pre-BFCM period as a whole.

It is expected that holiday e-commerce sales will rise, but consumer expectations are also expected to rise in tandem with it. It has been estimated that 90.5% of U.S. consumers will switch to a competitor brand as a result of just one instance of subpar customer service, according to a study conducted by Parcel Monitor and Rakuten Insight Global in 2023. Another key finding of the survey is that this growing emphasis on superior service extends to shipping and last-mile delivery as well.
In spite of this, as the holiday season approaches, retailers are faced with the dual challenge of meeting customer expectations as well as managing the logistical challenges that come hand-in-hand with this time period.
During peak season last year, 77% of shipment delays in the U.S. were related to carrier issues, according to data from Parcel Monitor. As a result of Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2022, delivery companies were taking 40% of that time to pick up orders from shippers, resulting in an average wait of 7.5 days between order pick-up and delivery. This means that choosing a logistics company that can guarantee timely and complete deliveries will be crucial for a successful holiday season.
There is no doubt that Parcel Monitor's carrier performance data serves as a compass for retailers around the world. As a result of our insights, we are capable of identifying delivery issues and will be able to help shippers make informed decisions about their logistics partnerships," said Dana von der Heide, Founder & Chief Customer Officer of Parcel Perform.. "With consumers' expectations rising at a rapid pace, every piece of data has now become a strategic advantage, allowing companies to not only meet demand during peak seasons, but also lay the foundation for excellence all year long"
"With consumers' expectations rising at a rapid pace, every piece of data has now become a strategic advantage, allowing companies to not only meet demand during peak seasons, but also lay the foundation for excellence all year long"
If you would like to learn more, please refer to Parcel Monitor's Peak Season Report for 2023 for more details.
The methodology
In order to provide consumers with accurate insights into the global logistics and e-commerce industries, Parcel Monitor collects billions of anonymized data points gathered from millions of parcels tracked by consumers in more than 170+ countries. This data is analyzed, augmented, and subjected to rigorous data quality tests in order to ensure that the insights accurately reflect the realities of the global logistics and e-commerce industries.
During this peak season analysis, the 'Pre-BFCM' period is defined as the period of 3 weeks leading up to the week of BFCM (i.e. 30 Oct 2023 to 20 Nov 2023) and 'BFCM' is defined as the period of 3 weeks starting from 20 Nov 2023 to 11 Dec 2023.
Parcel Monitor: What it is and how it works

Source prnewswire