FedEx Extra Hours program is making inroads for retailers to fulfill customer orders

An offering introduced by Memphis-based transportation and logistics bellwether FedEx late last year is providing additional e-commerce delivery options for retail shippers, the company said.

The new offering, called FedEx Extra Hours, enables shippers to fulfill e-commerce orders later in the day and into the evening and also receive late pickups by FedEx Express, with next-day local delivery and two-day shipping to any address in the continental United States, according to FedEx. And it added that through FedEx Extra Hours, retail shippers are able to broaden evening order cutoff times by up five-to-eight hours, and up to midnight based on a shipper’s current order fulfillment process.

This offering was initially introduced as a pilot program in various U.S. markets, including AutoZone and BestBuy, and a FedEx spokesman told LM that it is currently available in more than 100 U.S. markets, where retailer have requested this service, with additional markets to be added based on customer interest.

“Demand trends and consumer expectations in e-commerce are shifting, and the size, scale, reliability and flexibility of the FedEx networks uniquely position us to offer this new service that answers a clear consumer need: evening shopping with next-day local delivery and two-day shipping within the continental United States,” said Brie Carere, executive vice President and chief marketing officer for FedEx, last December in a statement. “The majority of online orders are placed after 4 p.m., and 64 percent of online shoppers expect orders placed by 5 p.m. to qualify for next-day shipping. FedEx Extra Hours aligns with the needs of online shoppers, while offering retailers a way to balance inventory and reduce transportation costs.”

The FedEx spokesman said that the rollout of FedEx Extra Hours drives home the point that FedEx is constantly working on innovative e-commerce solutions that provide value for its customers, as well as online shoppers.

“By providing later pickup times and utilizing next-day local delivery, retailers can fulfill and deliver online purchases to their shoppers faster than their competition,” he said. “We can pick up trailer-load volumes from distribution centers or smaller volumes from retail stores, all for next-day local delivery, offering retailers a way to balance inventory and reduce transportation costs.” 

A Bloomberg report published this week stated that through this program FedEx Express drivers pick up packages as late as 2 a.m. from retail stores and take them to sorting hubs, with deliveries able to occur the next day in local markets and within two days for other U.S. destinations.

The Bloomberg report indicated that FedEx Extra Hours does not represent a move to differntiate itself from global e-commerce giant Amazon, with FedEx’s Carere saying that less than 1.3% of the company’s total revenue comes from Amazon. What’s more, she noted that this figure is not estimated to rise, as FedEx “sees better prospects in helping customers compete” against Amazon.