In news that will surprise absolutely no one, the major package carriers, UPS and FedEx, expect to handle record numbers of packages this holiday seasons. As Americans shift more shopping in general and more of our holiday shopping online, that makes Mondays for the rest of the year, and this Monday in particular, extra important.
FedEx’s vice president of integrated marketing and communications pointed out something interesting in an interview with Bloomberg Technology: this year, retailers that also have a real-life retail presence are using their stores to ship online orders, meaning that they’re shipping packages out on Monday, but also receiving new inventory to replace the merchandise that they shipped out. All of this means that the package carriers will be busy in both directions.
Total holiday season spending is projected to increase this year, and online shopping is projected to be about 11% of that total. We’re going to order $94.7 billion worth of merchandise through our screens this year. Most of those items will be shipped, and fear of a repeat of the late delivery fiasco of 2013 motivates shippers to develop new technology and prepare year-round for the Shopping Frenzy Season.
Both companies also beef up their workforces for the holidays, with UPS hiring 90,000 seasonal employees, and FedEx hiring 50,000.
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist
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