There are 5 Mondays before the Christmas holiday, and FedEx expects to see package-volume spikes for at least three of them. It’s predicting it will move over 33 million packages through its global network on Cyber Monday, which falls on December 2nd, which is a record number.
FedEx also expects to more than double its average daily package volume on the two Mondays that follow.
Although this holiday season is shorter than last year’s, the company expects operational intensity to remain the same – and it said it was ready. “Our more than 450,000 outstanding team members have worked all year to prepare to deliver the absolute highest level of service for our customers this holiday season,” said executive Brie Carere.
Also of interest to online sellers: FedEx will not apply a residential peak surcharge this holiday season. “This helps small and medium-sized FedEx customers keep costs low for their customers,” the company said.
It also said it was ready for the season of returns:
“As the e-commerce market grows, so does the market for returns, with research indicating 62 percent of shoppers are more likely to shop online if they can return in store. FedEx has expanded its retail network and extended FedEx Office store operating hours to offer consumers more convenience in dropping off their returns. FedEx makes returns easier for consumers and merchants of all sizes with our diverse portfolio of returns transportation and technology solutions.”
FedEx rival UPS announced today that it expects to deliver 5% more packages during the holidays than last year’s holiday shopping season, and it also said it was prepared to deal with the surge.
You can read the full announcement on the FedEx website.
