FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service, two of America’s largest private shipping giants, recently revised their projected earnings for 2024 — UPS in July, FedEx last week. Each company attributed their respective performance dips to at least one shared phenomenon: falling demand for priority shipping.
As shipping giants impacted by shifts in myriad industries, FedEx and UPS serve as unique bellwethers for broader consumer trends and behaviors. So it’s interesting that while both companies are recording declines in speedy shipping, Americans aren’t shopping less. In fact, they’re shopping more, with e-commerce sales up as much as 8% in August compared to a year prior.
