FedEx blames last-minute e-commerce for Christmas delays

FedEx struggled to meet Christmas demands this year after a 20% surge in e-commerce. Customers have been complaining about late deliveries into the new year.

While the delays experienced this year are not nearly as bad as those of 2013, which heavily affected UPS and FedEx, online retailers touting last-minute shopping have continued to put strain on operations, according to FedEx, leading to unexpected volume. There was also severe weather to contend with in some places.

Unhappy customers got the hashtag #fedexfail trending on Twitter, even though FedEx’s performance may actually have improved from previous years.

By contrast, rival company UPS, which was hit hardest in 2013, seemed to be better prepared this year for several reasons, including expanded seasonal capacity, “pop-up” sorting locations, adding an extra day for express deliveries, and refusing last-minute shipments that retailers wanted to push from other carriers.

According to data from ShipMatrix, FedEx had an on-time delivery performance of 96.2%, while UPS achieved 97.7%.

(Source: Financial Review, Multichannel Merchant)