Last-minute shoppers are expected to go online to make their holiday purchases during the next few days, which means shippers should expect a surge in late-season package deliveries.
Holiday shoppers inevitably procrastinate, Lauren Freedman, a senior vice president at digital research agency Astound Commerce, told The Wall Street Journal last week.
“At the end of the day, they want to buy the stuff, and they want it fast. Now they just want it faster,” she said.
The article reports Dec. 16 was the cutoff date for UPS and FedEx to ship packages and ensure they arrive for Christmas, while the Postal Service will make deliveries in select locations Dec. 25.
The Journal also notes the Postal Service expects to deliver 750 million packages during the holidays compared to 700 million for UPS and 358 million for FedEx.
This means the Postal Service’s package volumes will rise 12 percent, while UPS’s volumes will increase 14 percent and FedEx’s will rise 10 percent.