As e-commerce continues to grow, so does the number of fulfillment options available to merchants. In particular, an increasing number of third-party logistics providers (3PLs) have emerged, handling all or some fulfillment operations for merchants who don't see it as a core competency.
Along with the projected increase in holiday spending this season, especially e-commerce, major carriers are all expecting significant double-digit growth in parcel volume before the end of the year.
Parcel shipping volume will grow annually at 5 to 7 percent between now and 2018, for a total increase of 20 percent, with the biggest gains coming in cross-border shipping, according to a study from Pitney Bowes.
Two months after a similar move by FedEx, UPS has announced changes to its dimensional weight pricing schedule. FedEx plans to decrease its DIM divisor from 166 to 139 as of Jan. 2, effectively increasing the shipping costs on millions of e-commerce parcels. UPS is also lowering its divisor to 139 as of Jan. 8, but is exempting domestic air and ground parcels that are less than one cubic foot (1,728 cubic inches).
With the election behind them, consumers are eager to see the deals retailers will offer for the biggest shopping weekend of the year, with 59 percent of Americans - an estimated 137.4 million people - planning to or considering shopping during Thanksgiving weekend, according to the annual survey released by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
Both UPS and rival carrier FedEx have announced e-commerce partnership as they head into the busy holiday shopping season that kicks off with Cyber Weekend.
If you think customer expectations are high overall in terms of e-commerce and direct-to-customer fulfillment, take a good look at the millennial generation. Across a number of studies you see a pattern: a keen desire for the most rapid shipping method possible; free, unlimited returns; and a greater willingness to spend a bit more to get it the same day.
PetSmart has become one of the latest companies to offer same-day delivery - a year and a half behind rival Petco with partner Instacart - via partner Deliv. PetSmart.com says the service is now available in California (Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, San Jose), Las Vegas, Atlanta, Miami, Seattle and Chicago. By mid-November, it will be available in eight additional metro areas for a total of nearly 2,500 zip codes serviced.
In 2015, Cyber Monday generated more than $3bn in online purchases, making it the largest e-commerce sales day in U.S. history. The massive deals and discounts offered during the annual post-Thanksgiving event were largely responsible for the day's extraordinary sales.
UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service are all projecting major growth in holiday shipping volume during the peak season, driven by the continued boom in ecommerce activity. UPS, for example, is projecting 700 million deliveries between Thanksgiving and the end of the year, a 14 percent increase over 2015.
