UPS has set temporary restrictions on pickups from major retailers, including GAP and Nike, due to a major surge in shipping demand over the holidays. The company also notified its drivers to not pick up goods from six retailers, including L.L. Bean Inc., Hot Topic Inc., and Newegg Inc over Cyber Monday.
More:
- UPS has said that when retailers' demand exceeds the allowance, items will be shipped when additional space becomes available.
- According to the National Retail Federation, online shopping increased by 44% YoY over the holidays this year. Adobe reported that Cyber Monday spending reached $10.8B this week, making it the largest shopping day in the U.S. It also said that overall holiday spending reached $184B.
- Shipping software provider ShipMatrix reported that between Nov. 15 and Nov. 21, FedEx's e-commerce division picked up 91% of ready goods, while UPS picked up 81%.
Earlier:
- For Q3 2020, UPS announced revenue of $21.2B, up 16% YoY. The company's profits stood at $2B, up 10% YoY. UPS said that its overall profit was affected by increased spending to speed-up delivery times, lower margins in delivering e-commerce packages to homes, and hiring workers due to holiday demand.
- WSJ noted that since e-commerce deliveries have a smaller profit margin, the earnings result adds pressure to UPS to find a suitable way to handle the surge in e-commerce due to the pandemic.
In other news:
Yesterday, FedEx announced that it is acquiring ShopRunner, which provides free two-day shopping and free returns from its partner stores, for an annual fee of $79.
