As the holiday shopping season heated up this month, UPS imposed shipping restrictions on major retailers such as Macy's, Gap, Nike, and L.L. Bean. The move signaled that the crush of holiday e-commerce orders was putting overworked delivery networks to the test.
Competing shipping carrier FedEx, meanwhile, has announced shipping surcharges and the acquisition of ShopRunner, an e-commerce platform and subscription service that offers two-day delivery from select retailers.
As for shipping restrictions, FedEx has not confirmed any specific limits on retailers.
"In some cases, volume has significantly exceeded customer projections," Bonny Harrison, director of global media for FedEx, wrote to Cheddar in an email. "We know how important it is to our customers that their packages are delivered on time, and we remain committed to work with them on ways to leverage our network flexibility."
The shipping carrier has hired 70,000 seasonal workers, moved to seven-day operations, and accelerated Sunday delivery capabilities to keep up with the pandemic-fueled demand.
"We project that peak shipping volumes will be up 22 percent year-over-year and have been preparing for the influx of packages for months in advance of an unprecedented holiday season," Harrison wrote.
In the meantime, FedEx is working with retailers and consumers to help reduce pressure on the delivery network.
The company's Buy Online Pickup in Store (BOPIS) network offers small and medium-sized merchants without a brick-and-mortar storefront a physical location for their customers to pick up online orders.
Harrison noted that the last day to ship through FedEx Ground before Christmas is Tuesday, December 15. She also advised customers to sign up for FedEx Delivery Manager to help them track packages or redirect them to one of 60,000 retail pick-up locations. These are located at retailers such as Walgreens, Dollar General, Kroger, and Albertsons.
In this extraordinary year, she added that consumers might want to be more proactive in finishing up their holiday gift-buying.
"Don’t wait until the last minute to ship your holiday gifts," Harrison wrote.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
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Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
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Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
