Dive Brief:
- FedEx expects to move a record 33 million packages this Cyber Monday, according to a press release.
- The carrier also expects more than double its daily average package volumes for the following two Mondays, Dec. 9 and Dec. 16, as consumers' weekend shopping habits lead to higher parcel volume early in the week, driving up residential delivery volumes.
- FedEx credited its investment in automation, e-commerce-specific solutions, its expanded retail footprint and plans to hire an additional 55,000 workers for its readiness for peak season operations. FedEx has not released a total expected holiday parcel volume for 2019.
Dive Insight:
According to Deloitte's holiday retail forecast, e-commerce sales this year are expected to grow by 14% to 18% compared to 2018. This projected increase is not only driving record peak season expectations in terms of deliveries, but also has FedEx expecting an increase in return volumes.
FedEx estimates 62% of shoppers are more likely to shop online if they can return the purchase in-store.
In addition to extending deliveries to seven days a week, FedEx has been expanding its retail network to include 8,000 Dollar General stores and the extension of FedEx Returns services (whereby customers can have return labels printed and affixed in-store) to 7,300 Walgreens locations.
UPS has taken a similar approach to its peak season operations. It expects to deliver 5% more packages than it did during its record-breaking 2018 peak season, when it projected it would deliver more than 800 million parcels. It currently estimates it will be delivering 32 million packages and documents per day between Black Friday and Dec. 30.
To accomplish this, UPS has also invested in automation, including "about five million square feet of highly automated facilities, including nearly 400,000 pieces per hour of sortation capacity," according to a press release.
In addition, UPS announced plans to hire 100,000 seasonal employees and has been expanding its retail parcel pick-up and drop off network through its MyChoice partnerships with Michael's, CVS and other retailers.
