MEMPHIS-For the tenth consecutive year, FedEx Corp. expects to break company volume records when an unprecedented 11.3 million packages move through the FedEx Express and FedEx Ground global networks on December 17. On an average day, more than seven million packages move through the FedEx systems.
"As an engine of the global economy, FedEx relies on the incredible dedication of our global workforce of more than 280,000 FedEx team members to deliver the holidays for our customers," said Frederick W. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of FedEx Corp. "The continued growth of FedEx is a testament to the commitment of our people, to the unprecedented access we give our customers and to the reliability of our unmatched global networks."
FedEx Ground projects it will handle its highest package volume ever on Monday, December 10, when it expects to move more than seven million packages.
December 17 is expected to be FedEx Express' busiest night with nearly five million packages moving through the network.
FedEx international markets including the United Kingdom, China, India and Canada also will see their busiest day on Dec. 17 when they collectively process nearly 350,000 FedEx Express domestic international shipments.
FedEx Kinko's also will see its busiest night on December 17 when 345,000 FedEx Express and FedEx Ground packages are projected to move through the FedEx Kinko's channel. This is a 12% increase over last year's busiest day for FedEx Kinko's.
FedEx SmartPost expects its busiest day will be December 3 with 1.9 million shipments moving through the network.
The award winning fedex.com Web site is expected to break records as well this holiday season, processing an average of almost 6.5 million online tracking requests per day during the peak month of December. On average, fedex.com processes 3.5 million online tracking requests per day. On the highest single day in December, we expect 8 million online tracking requests.
Online sales are projected to be the best-performing retail channel during the holidays, according to TNS Retail Forward. The firm expects online retail sales to approach $42 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with $35 billion last holiday season, a year-over-year increase of 18.5%.
The National Retail Federation predicts that holiday sales will continue to rise, although sales are projected to be the slowest since 2002 due to broader economic conditions. Holiday spending is projected to increase to $474.5 billion, a 4% rise over 2006.
