Saturday delivery services lead list of upgrades for FedEx Express domestic service lineup

FedEx subsidiary FedEx Express said this week it has rolled out various upgrades to its domestic service line.

“We expanded FedEx First Overnight in direct response to customer demand,” a FedEx spokesperson told LM. “Several of our customers ship highly time-sensitive packages and the demand for this service has grown consistently since it was first introduced.  This particular expansion has been in planning for the last several months and has been top of mind, despite the economic downturn.”

The spokesperson said that to put it into perspective, more than 24,300 zip codes are now serviced by FedEx First Overnight as compared to just over 10,000 in May of 2006.   And 1 million businesses now have access to FedEx First Overnight deliveries.

Company officials said the changes include:

• expanding FedEx First Overnight deliveries by 8 a.m. the next business day, which are geared towards time-sensitive packages for industries like manufacturing, banking, law, and entertainment, and have a money-back guarantee;
• adding FedEx First Overnight Saturday, with deliveries at 9:30 a.m. (Saturday deliveries cover more than 90 percent of the U.S. population base), the addition of a Saturday Hold At Location for FedEx Priority Overnight and FedEx 2Day service for Saturday pick-ups, and FedEx Home Delivery service available on Saturday;
• extended on-call pickup times; and
• a ZIP code expansion, which expands service area coverage for inbound FedEx International First shipments—U.S. inbound shipments from more than 60 countries and Caribbean islands in one or two business days by 8 or 8:30 a.m.

What’s more, FedEx research also showed that customers have a need for early Saturday deliveries as well, noted the spokesperson. With the on-call pickup expansion, just as customer time-sensitivity in the morning has driven the FedEx First Overnight expansion, customer time-sensitivity for extra time at the end of the business day has driven the company’s expansion of the on-call pickup window.

“These enhancements give our customers faster service (FedEx First Overnight and on-call pickup window expansion) and more options (Saturday services) than ever with FedEx,” the spokesperson said. “FedEx Express is committed to making investments to give customers faster service and more options.  All of these enhancements are designed to make doing business easier and more time efficient for our customers.”