The warehousing and fulfillment market is a fast-growing industry that contains many moving parts. As current economic and social conditions change, adjustments in each aspect of the ecommerce fulfillment industry are difficult to keep up with. However, keeping an eye on predicted trends, average costs, and customer expectations allows your business to adapt to any new developments in the fulfillment and warehousing markets. To aid in this, we have compiled a list of warehousing, fulfillment, shipping, and delivery statistics so your business has quick access to information that may benefit your operations.
Logistics Statistics
The Size of the Logistics Industry
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1. The market size, in terms of revenue, of the industry in 2022 is $212.0 billion.
2. The market size of the logistics industry in the U.S. increased faster than the economy overall over the past five years.
The Future Growth of the Logistics Industry
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3. The logistics market has expanded by roughly 29% in 2022.
4. The CAGR of the logistics market is predicted to be 7.1% by 2027.
5. The market size of the Third-Party Logistics industry is expected to increase 8% in 2022.
6. On average, the market size of the logistics industry has grown 2.2% per year between 2017 and 2022 in the United States.
7. Due to strong roadways in the region, the Asia Pacific 3PL market size is predicted to register a growth rate of over 10% through 2026.
The Number of Logistics Companies
(source)
8. An increase of 1.4% from 2021, there are 14,302 logistics businesses in the U.S. as of 2022.
9. California (2,939), Texas (2,239), and Florida (1,661) are the states with the highest number of logistics businesses in the U.S.
Top Places for Searches of Logistics Companies
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10. Southern California — Long Beach is the highest volume port in the country, making it the perfect location for gathering inbound products, moving freight, and distributing containers.
11. New Jersey — New Jersey, although small, has a high population and is less expensive than its neighbor (New York). There are various transportation choices throughout the state, including interstate connections and thousands of miles of railway tracks.
12. Dallas, Texas — Dallas and the nearby Fort Worth area are the perfect middle point between the East and West Coast, connecting cities like New York City with Los Angeles and Mexico City.
13. Houston, Texas — Despite being in the same state as Dallas, Houston has its benefits. This city is one of the biggest in landmass and mileage, making it easy for those who need extra acreage for their business. With a great port option, bringing inbound products from overseas is popular in Houston.
14. Illinois — Due to the importance of Chicago, Illinois is one of the best states for warehouses and fulfillment services. The Port of Chicago on Lake Michigan is one of the most convenient for rail access and fulfillment.
15. Florida — This southeastern state is a smart choice for a warehouse in the USA due to its access to the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico – including the extensive Latin American market.
16. Georgia — The Charleston and Savannah metropolitan areas and ports are ideal for inbound shipments, connecting with industries, and dealing with major corporations.
Warehousing Statistics
Size of the Warehousing Market and Future Growth
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17. The market size, measured by revenue, of the public storage and warehousing industry is $34 billion in 2022.
18. The market size of the public storage and warehousing industry is expected to increase 4.7% in 2022.
19. Between 2017 and 2022, the market size of the public storage and warehousing industry in the U.S. has grown 4.0% per year on average.
Number of Warehouses
20. The number of warehouses in the U.S. reached 19,190 in 2020. (source)
21. There are 20,314 public storage and warehousing businesses in the U.S. as of 2022. (source)
22. Between 2017 and 2022, the number of businesses in the public storage and warehousing industry in the U.S. has grown 3.1% per year on average. (source)
23. In the U.S., California (1,689 businesses), Texas (1,148 businesses), and Ohio (617) are the states with the most businesses in public storage and warehousing. (source)
Wage Rates
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24. The average warehousing and storage salary is $35,404.
25. The average male salary is $38,354 while the average female salary is $37,740.
26. The 10-year projection of estimated job growth is 6.32%.
27. In May of 2021 there were 1.08 million people employed in the warehousing and storage industry.
28. The highest paid occupations in warehousing and storage, by average wage, are chief executives and legislators ($177,129), computer and information systems managers ($125,462), and financial managers ($111,593).
29. The lowest paid occupations in warehousing and storage, by average wage, are landscaping and groundskeeping workers ($15,667), graders & sorters ($15,063), and machine feeders and offbearers ($14,976),
30. The most common occupations in the warehousing and storage Industry Group, by number of employees, are laborers and freight, stock and material movers by hand (200,656), industrial truck and tractor operators (109,863), and hand packers and pickers (79,473).
31. The average wage for an hourly warehouse employee increased less than $1 per hour to $14.97. (source)
32. The average annual pay for a warehouse employee dropped by almost 6% to $52,790 per year. (source)
33. Warehouse staff costs $52.7k in management a year and $14.97 hourly. (source)
Warehousing Prices
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34. The pick and pack fee per one item order is $3.13 for B2C and $4.33 for B2B.
35. The price of storage per pallet is $16.21 and per bin $3.18.
36. There is an average set up fee of $368.03, an account management fee of $198.93, and a returns fee of $3.62.
37. The receiving fees, on average, are $2.50 per SKU, $7.37 per pallet, $39.53 per hour, $396.88 per container, and $2.46 per carton.
38. The average cost of warehouse space per square foot in 2022 was $7.96.
39. Pallet storage pricing is the most common fee by 86.15%.
40. For public warehousing companies offering climate-controlled, cold storage, or frozen storage, the cost within these environments were $19.81 per pallet and $0.71 per cubic foot on average.
41. 38.71% of those surveyed offered a discounted storage rate ranging from 2-12%. The average being 9.86% and 100-2,000 for pallets.
42. 46% of companies surveyed—that had multiple locations—indicated that they charged the same rates to clients across all locations while 54% of multiple location warehousing companies caried their rate structures depending on the location.
43. The percentage of warehouses that increase pricing dropped to 61% this year, and the average yearly increase jumped to 5.59% per year.
44. 93% of companies surveyed charge per pallet, 30% charge per bin, 27% per cubic foot, 15% per square foot, and 5% offer other warehousing storage methodologies.
45. 53% of companies surveyed charge set up fees with an average price of $548.52.
46. 95% of those surveyed have an average return fee per order of $5.28.
47. 50% of companies surveyed charge a routine account management fee with an average rate of $160.10.
48. 95% of companies surveyed had a receiving fee with an hourly charge of $36.09, charged $2.58 per SKU, had an average charge per pallet of $10.10, and an average charge for receiving cartons at $2.91.
49. The average hourly rate for knitting came in at $35.47, and the knitting cost per unit at $.30-$.63.
50. 68% of warehouses from companies surveyed offered a cost-plus model.
Fulfillment Statistics
Fulfillment Costs
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51. The average set up fee is $336-575.
52. Companies will charge either a receiving fee ($39.53), per container ($330 per 20-foot container/$397 per 40-foot container), per box ($2.46), per pallet ($7.37), per item ($.25), or per SKU ($2.50).
53. Storage fees are often charged, on average, per pallet ($16.21), per cubic foot ($.5), per bin ($3.18), or per square foot ($.91).
54. On average, there is a fulfillment fee of $2.75 per order PLUS $.40 per order & $4.33 per B2B order.
55. The average box fee is around $.80 per box (some companies include this in fulfillment fees, in which case you might see a slightly larger fulfillment fee and the range was $.50-$1.61 on average).
56. Order inserts have an average price of $.23 per insert or $.05 per label.
57. The average outbound shipping fee with a discount off of negotiated rates with carriers (e.g. 21.82% off of ground, 26.40% off of express, 24.71% off of international and 57.30% off LTL) is around $.50-.95 per order.
58. Returns fees average at $3.15 per order PLUS $.50 per additional item ($3.62 for a single item return on average).
59. The average knitting fee is around $39.60 per hour or custom quoted rated per order/item based on time study ($.25-$.65 for a simple project per unit).
60. An account management fee averages $198.93 per month and ranges from $30-$500 per month depending upon complexity.
61. Call center services fee averages at $1.43 per minute.
62. 52% of fulfillment centers charge set up fees that average at $368.
63. Companies charge you a 10-15% markup over their cost per standard box.
64. For subscription box orders, companies charge between $35-45 per hour.
65. 71% of fulfillment providers charge separately for boxes.
66. 54% of fulfillment companies offer yearly contracts, and 45% offer multi-year agreements.
67. 70% of fulfillment houses offer discounts for pick and pack fees at different monthly volume levels.
68. 62% of warehouses offer discounts depending upon the storage space needed.
69. 94% of companies offer discounts for ground shipping (6.50% average), express shipping (20-30% average), and LTL shipping (40-60% average).
70. 64% of companies offer a pick and pack discount at an average of 6.50%.
71. 39% of fulfillment companies offer a pallet storage discount at an average of 9.86%.
Ecommerce Shipping and Parcel Delivery Statistics
72. 38% of online shoppers will abandon their order if the delivery is said to take longer than a week. (source)
73. 16% of online shoppers will abandon their order if delivery takes 6-7 days. (source)
74. 15% of online shoppers will abandon their order if delivery takes 4-5 days. (source)
75. There are 8% of online shoppers who will abandon their order of delivery will take 3 days or fewer. (source)
76. 24% of online shoppers would abandon their order if no delivery date was provided at checkout. (source)
77. If a purchase is not delivered within 2 days of the date promised, 69% of consumers are less likely to shop with a retailer in the future. (source)
78. 25% of online shoppers will abandon their order if unexpected shipping costs are added to the order just prior to check out. (source)
79. 63% of online shoppers cite excessive shipping fees as a reason that they have canceled a purchase. (source)
80. Offering free shipping increases average order volume by 97% and reduces cart abandonment by 18%. (source)
81. Distributing your inventory has proven to reduce shipping costs by 25%. (source)
82. 56% of shoppers aged 18-34 expect same day delivery. (source)
83. 61% of all respondents are willing to pay extra for same-day delivery. (source)
84. 75% of shippers said the use of 3PL services contributed to overall logistics cost reductions. (source)
85. 86% of shippers said the use of 3PLs has contributed to improved customer service. (source)
86. 81% of shippers outsource their domestic transportation while 71% outsource international transportation. (source)
87. 50% of shippers outsource freight forwarding. (source)
88. 63% of shippers indicated that they would increase their use of 3PL services. (source)
89. 84% of consumers say that they won’t return to a brand after just one poor delivery service. (source)
90. 73.6% of shoppers say that delivery is the most important to the overall shopping experience. (source)
91. 63% of consumers expect a standard delivery to arrive within three days of ordering. (source)
92. 94% of consumers blame retailers for poor delivery. (source)
93. 80% of consumers want same-day shipping. (source)
94. 24.7% of merchants say that delivery costs are the biggest challenge their supply chain faces. (source)
Ecommerce Returns Statistics
95. The average ecommerce return rates hover around 20-30%. (source)
96. 54% of buyers say that free returns or exchanges are the second biggest influence on whether they buy from a brand or not. (source)
97. The average return rate—ranked from highest to lowest—is apparel (10.01%), jewelry (8.31%), electronics (8.28%), sports and outdoors (6.10%), beauty (4.99%), and health and wellness (4.20%). (source)
98. 41% of consumers say they’ve purchased multiple items with the intent to return some of them. (source)
99. 30% of all products ordered online are returned. (source)
100. 79% of consumers want free return shipping. (source)
101. 92% of consumers said that they will buy again if the product return process is easy. (source)
102. The top reasons consumers return products are product damage (20%), product received looked different (22%), received wrong item (23%), and other reasons (35%). (source)
103. 67% of shoppers check the returns page before making a purchase. (source)
104. 58% of shoppers want a hassle-free return policy. (source)
105. 47% of shoppers want an easy to print return label. (source)
106. 62% of shoppers are more likely to shop online if they can return an item in store. (source)
107. The average online return rate is 18.1%. (source)
108. Only 49% of retailers offer free return shipping. (source)
109. 80.2% of returns happen because the product is damaged or broken. (source)
110. Over 60% of people will read through a return policy before purchasing. (source)
111. 30% of online shoppers intentionally overbuy and then return the items they don’t want. (source)
112. 62.58% of online customers expect retailers to allow for returns within 30 days of purchase. (source)
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