Shippers are increasingly paying more to move their products, as shipping costs in the second quarter rose at three times the rate of consumer prices, according to a market report from supply chain software provider Deposco.
Those rising costs came even as demand faded from its June peak, collapsing the margin cushion operators carry into peak season from 9.7 points to 0.6 between April and July, the report said. By the numbers, parcel inflation rose every week of the quarter, from 4.1% year over year at the open to 12.8% at the close, thirteen consecutive weekly increases and three times the 3.9% rate of consumer price inflation.
Under that pressure, profit margins for brands, retailers, and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) are shrinking. As operators are absorbing two separate cost pressures at once; input costs rising 6% upstream through the Producer Price Index and shipping costs rising 12.8%, while consumer prices absorb only 3.9%.
In other findings, the report said that:
- Demand faded in dollars, not units. Order volumes continued to rise even as dollar growth slowed, suggesting lower spending per order. GMV growth for the typical operator peaked at 15.4% the week of June 1 and decelerated four straight weeks to 13.4%, while order volume growth accelerated from 4.0% to 8.8% over the same period.
- The network is lean, not stockpiled. Median inventory closed at 89.3 days on hand, 5.9 days leaner than a year earlier and near its leanest levels in 18 months, after a destocking run from a 111.5-day peak in early 2025.
The data comes from Deposco’s Commerce Signal report, a quarterly intelligence report based on live network data from the firm’s e-commerce fulfillment platform. Commerce Signal draws on live activity from more than 4,900 brands, served both directly on the platform and through the 3PL operators who fulfill on their behalf, representing over $84 billion in GMV and 485 million orders.
