UPS says retail e-commerce drove growth in its delivery business in the fourth quarter of 2012.

“As online retailers continue to rely on UPS to serve their customers, daily package volume was up 3.0%, led by 7.7% growth in UPS Next Day Air” for domestic shipments in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier, UPS said today in announcing fourth quarter and full-year 2012 financial results.

For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2012, UPS also reported:

• Average daily domestic package volume in standard ground delivery rose 3.0% year over year to 13.461 million packages, as next-day air rose 7.7% to 1.405 million packages and deferred two- and three-day air dropped 1.4% to 1.296 million packages.  Total U.S. average daily package volume increased 3.4% to 16.162 million packages;
• Average daily package volume for international shipments rose 2.2% year over year to 2.659 million packages;
• Consolidated domestic and international average daily package volume rose 2.9% year over year to 18.82 million packages;
• Revenue from total domestic package shipments rose 3.0% year over year to $8.933 billion from $8.670 billion;
• Revenue from international package shipments rose 1.5% year over year to $3.201 billion from $3.153 billion;
• Average revenue per domestic package rose 2.1% to $7.64 for standard ground deliveries, dropped 0.6% for next-day air to $19.47, and rose 0.1%  to $12.55 for deferred two- and three-day air, for an overall increase of 1.7% to $9.06 for domestic package deliveries; for international deliveries, average revenue per package rose 0.9% to $18.91;
• Total revenue, including supply chain and freight services, rose 2.9% year over year to $14.571 billion from $14.166 billion.

For the 12 months ended December 31, 2012, UPS reported:

• Average daily domestic package volume in standard ground delivery rose 3.2% year over year to 11.588 million packages, as next-day air rose 5.9% to 1.277 million packages and deferred two- and three-day air rose 5.7% to 1.031 million packages. That resulted in an overall increase of 3.6% in U.S. average daily package volume to 13.896 million packages;
• Average daily package volume for international shipments rose 0.5% to 2.40 million packages;
• Consolidated domestic and international average daily package volume rose 3.2% to 16.30 million packages;
• Revenue from total domestic package shipments rose 3.6% to $32.856 billion from $31.717 billion;
• Revenue from international package shipments dropped 1.0% to $12.124 billion from $12.249 billion;
• Average revenue per domestic package rose 1.4% to $7.89 for standard ground deliveries, dropped 2.0% to $19.93 for next-day air, and dropped 2.0% to $13.06 for deferred two- and three-day air, for an overall increase of 0.8% to $9.38 for domestic deliveries; for international deliveries, average revenue per package dropped 0.8% to $19.13;
• Total revenue, including supply chain and freight services, rose 1.9% to $54.127 billion from $53.105 billion.

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