Dive Brief:
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Last year, many last-minute orders didn’t make it to customers in time for Christmas, leading shippers like UPS and FedEx to discourage late-shipping promises by retailers this year.
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Yet some 26% of major retailers will guarantee Christmas delivery on orders made one to three days out, according to consultancy Kurt Salmon — 17% more than last year. Another 50% promise on-time delivery on orders placed Dec. 20, 37% more than last year.
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Last year, 15% of retail orders arrived late.
Dive Insight:
If there’s the opportunity for procrastination, many shoppers will take advantage of it. With online shopping expected to rise some 13%, there will be many more online orders to fulfill, and the free shipping deals will make last-minute orders that much more tempting.
That's obviously a way for online sites to compete with brick-and-mortar, and to get shoppers to buy. But it’s toying with disaster. UPS and FedEx have been steeling themselves for the holiday rush, beefing up their workforces more and earlier than last year. But they’ve also tried to get retailers to ease up on the last-minute promises.