Record FedEx Holiday Volume to be Driven by E-Commerce

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) expects to have its busiest day in history on Monday, Dec. 10 when it moves a projected 19 million shipments through its global ground, express and freight networks.

The 10 percent, year-over-year, busiest day increase will once again be driven by e-commerce feeding the FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost networks on “Green Monday,” which falls on the second Monday of December and is one of the most lucrative days of the year for retail companies. In 2011, U.S. consumers spent $1.1 billion on Green Monday alone, according to comScore. Green Monday also traditionally kicks off the heaviest online shopping week of the year.

For the overall holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, FedEx forecasts more than 280 million shipments to move through its worldwide shipping networks. This would be a year-over-year volume increase of more than 13 percent compared to 2011 when 247 million shipments were processed.

Customers have a variety of shipping choices during the holiday season through the FedEx networks, including:

• FedEx Express, for the shipment of high-value and other goods with delivery as late as Dec. 24 or even on Christmas Day with FedEx SameDay®.
• FedEx Ground®, which is faster to more locations than UPS Ground and FedEx Home Delivery, which is faster to more residential locations than UPS Ground.
• FedEx SmartPost, a residential shipping service designed for online and catalog retailers with last-mile delivery by the U.S. Postal Service.

FedEx plans to increase with approximately 20,000 seasonal personnel to help handle the surge in holiday shipments at FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery and FedEx SmartPost.

“The continued trend toward record Peak volumes is a testament to the strength, speed and reliability of the FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost networks,” said Frederick W. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of FedEx Corp. “FedEx team members from around the globe, 300,000 strong, are prepared to help drive commerce during the busy holiday season and beyond.”

Holiday volumes are retail-driven, with goods such as personal electronics, apparel, luxury goods and items from large internet retailers accounting for holiday shipping volumes.

The impact of the expected higher FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost volumes were included in the company’s earnings guidance for fiscal 2013.



The Holiday Retail Outlook

The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects holiday sales to increase 4.1 percent this year to $586.1 billion. The NRF’s forecast is higher than the 10-year average holiday sales increase of 3.5 percent.

Online holiday sales (excluding travel) are expected to grow 16.8 percent year-over-year to as much as $54.5 billion, according to eMarketer. Almost $1 out of every $10 of consumer discretionary spending is now online according to comScore for eCommerce & U.S. Department of Commerce for Retail, February 2012.



FedEx SmartPost – The Solution for E-Commerce

FedEx SmartPost® is designed for online retailers and cataloguers who ship high volumes of low-weight shipments to residential customers. FedEx SmartPost has an integrated national network that picks up, sorts and delivers packages directly to U.S. Postal Service facilities for final delivery to residences.

The service continues to experience significant growth in line with e-commerce trends. In fiscal 2012, FedEx SmartPost made gains in market share and the average daily volume increased 18 percent to 1.7 million packages.



FedEx Ground Offers Unmatched Speed for the Holidays and Beyond

FedEx Ground has made continuous improvements in the speed, efficiency and reliability of the FedEx Ground network and the ability to provide service faster than ever before. Since 2003, FedEx Ground has improved the transit time in more than two-thirds of its lanes by at least one business day. As a result:

• 82% of FedEx Ground packages are delivered in 3 business days or less
• 61% of FedEx Ground packages are delivered in 2 business days or less
• 24% of FedEx Ground packages are delivered next business day



FedEx Helps to Make the Holidays Hassle Free

The unparalleled FedEx global network, offers time-definite delivery to more than 220 countries and territories that comprise more than 90 percent of the world’s GDP within one to three days.

FedEx offers several shipping options that are designed for customer convenience, especially during the holidays, including:

• FedEx SameDay service, a FedEx Express offering since 1995, offers U.S. customers both large and small same-day pickup and delivery seven days a week, 365 days a year for packages weighing less than 150 lbs. FedEx also offers FedEx SameDay City in 20 key U.S. markets.
• FedEx Home Delivery®, with Saturday delivery for no additional cost, backed by a money-back guarantee
• FedEx Express delivery on Saturdays to areas covering more than 90 percent of the U.S. population and as early as 9:30 a.m.
• FedEx Hold at Location and Redirect to Hold services—offered at no extra cost through FedEx Office locations—allow customers to better control their delivery options, minimizing missed deliveries and returns.
• FedEx Office team members at more than 1,800 U.S. locations offer customers a full range of FedEx Express, FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery shipping options—with most stores open as late as 11 p.m. and more than 300 that are open 24 hours. Team members are also specially trained in proper packing techniques to help customers ensure gifts arrive safely and securely.



A History of FedEx Holiday Records

The busiest day of the year at FedEx has continued to grow in volumes over the years. A history of busiest days since 2005 follows:

• Dec. 12, 2005 – 9.8 million shipments
• Dec. 18, 2006 – 10.6 million shipments
• Dec. 17, 2007 – 11.5 million shipments
• Dec. 15, 2008 – 12 million shipments
• Dec. 14, 2009 – 14.2 million shipments
• Dec. 13, 2010 – 15.6 million shipments
• Dec. 12, 2011 – 17.2 million shipments