FedEx staff around the world literally have their hands full today (December 10) coping withwhat is projected to be the busiest day in company history when 19 million packages are expected to
move through the company’s global networks.The 300,000 FedEx team members and approximately 20,000 seasonal personnel are supportingsystems that process more than 200 packages per second, according to the company. On last year’sbusiest day (December 12) the company handled 17.2 million shipments while the 2010 figure was 15.6million.
“At FedEx, we have been preparing for this busy holiday shipping season for almost a year now,”said T. Michael Glenn, executive vice president of Market Development at FedEx. “The spiritand drive of our team members, backed by the efficiency of our networks, will help us deliver whatwe expect will be a record-breaking 280 million packages through our global networks betweenThanksgiving and Christmas, up 13 per cent from 2011.”
In the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, the busiest day for FedEx Express shipments goingout from the region is expected on Tuesday, December 18, with an increase of 6 per cent over lastyear. Likewise, the company forecast that December 17 will be the peak day for shipmentscoming into the region. More than 70 million shipments are expected during the business week fromDecember 9 to 15, a 10 per cent increase compared to 2011.
“Our FedEx Express EMEA network is once again ready to support the high volume of deliveriesexpected this year,” said Gerald P. Leary, president of FedEx Express EMEA. “This is possiblethanks to the commitment of our team members across the region and globally to provide exceptionalcustomer service, especially during our busiest season.”
The high demand is mainly driven by soaring e-commerce sales worldwide. In the US, onlineholiday sales are forecast to climb 17 per cent compared to last year, according toeMarketer. Monday, December 10, will also serve as “Green Monday,” a term coined by eBay todescribe the best sales day in December and traditional kick-off to the heaviest online shoppingweek of the year. According to comScore, US consumers spent $1.1 billion on Green Monday alone in2011.
Meanwhile, the European Multi-channel and Online Trade Association (EMOTA) estimates Europeane-commerce will grow by 20 per cent this year. This makes Europe the fastest growing e-commercemarket in the world with a turnover of over €300 billion.
