Express and parcel companies in the USA claim they are ready to deliver an expected surge in volumes next week as US consumers use the long Thanksgiving Day weekend starting today for a flood of Black Friday and Cyber Monday online shopping.
Leading US retailers such as Amazon, Walmart and Target are heavily publicising countless special offers and discounted prices, with e-commerce giant Amazon, for example, attempting to create a ‘Black Friday week’ of deals running from last Friday (November 16) until tomorrow (November 23).
The long weekend, including the Thanksgiving Day public holiday today and widespread day off for many workers tomorrow, has turned into an e-commerce peak season over the last few years. A survey by the National Retail Federation found that 164 million consumers plan to shop either in stores or online over the long weekend, while an earlier NRF survey found 55% of consumers would shop online during the entire 2018 holiday season.
This year the US e-commerce market is continuing to grow at double-digit rates, according to recent figures from the US Department of Commerce. Retail e-commerce sales in the US rose by 14.5% year-on-year to $130.9 billion in the July – September quarter, and accounted for 9.8% of total US retail sales (which grew by 5.3% overall in the quarter). Full-year growth could reach 17%, according to other forecasts.
For their part, delivery companies in the US have spent the last few months preparing both for the forthcoming surge of parcels from ‘Cyber weekend’ as well as the overall end-of-year holiday season.
DHL USA yesterday declared it is “ready to deliver Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the 2018 holiday season” after investing in network capacity and innovative technology in recent months. Overall, the DHL divisions expect to handle up to 40% more volume in the USA in the peak season compared to the rest of the year. Operational investments include more automation in distribution centres, a new automated distribution center in New Jersey, collaborative robots in fulfillment centers and automated delivery depots for final-mile delivery in New York.
Lee Spratt, CEO for DHL eCommerce Americas, said: “This season will probably be stronger than 2017. The market is growing at 10-15%. I expect a minimum of 10% growth on peak volumes vs. last year but wouldn’t be surprised to see it hit 20%. The peaks are Black Friday and Cyber Monday – around these days we see a dramatic increase in orders. The volumes usually show up on the Saturday and Tuesday directly after these days. This is when we need the highest amount of labour in our facilities and our operations at full power. Consumer expectations are high – they want to receive their orders just as on any other shopping day – and this is a defining moment for many retailers in winning and retaining business, so it’s critical that delivery providers meet their commitments.”
The country’s largest delivery operator, the US Postal Service, expects a record number of 900 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, and will deliver on Sundays in many areas from November 25 onwards. “The Postal Service is ready to deliver for the holiday season. We have increased our operating capacity to include additional transportation and extended our delivery windows,” says Megan J. Brennan, Postmaster General and CEO. “Our dedicated employees are proud to deliver more packages to homes than any other shipper.”
For its part, UPS expects to deliver nearly 800 million packages worldwide during the 2018 peak season, has invested heavily in additional sorting and delivery capacity, including 22 new or expanded facilities, and is working closely with major customers to coordinate volumes and timings.
FedEx already said in September that its US ground package delivery business would move to a six-day operational week year-round to cope with rising volumes, including e-commerce orders, and once again run six- and seven-day operations through the holiday season. The company has not yet published any forecasts or more detailed operational planning for peak season 2018.
