FedEx is set to unveil its latest venture, a data-driven commerce platform known as “fdx,” scheduled for launch in autumn 2024. This platform is positioned to offer comprehensive e-commerce solutions to online retailers, facilitating supply chain management, customer sales, and delivery coordination.
Incorporating existing FedEx commerce tools, such as access to ShopRunner members (a marketplace acquired by FedEx in 2020), fdx will introduce additional features in the fall.
These new capabilities will enable brands to craft personalized post-purchase experiences, providing customers with precise shipment information. Additionally, it will leverage FedEx’s vast shipment network data to enhance order management processes.
Christina Meek, FedEx’s Global Relations Manager, emphasized that FedEx’s primary focus is not on the marketplace business. Instead, the company aims to equip businesses with digital capabilities and insights while allowing them to maintain control over their customer experience.
This initiative comes as FedEx faces stiff competition in the logistics sector, notably from Amazon, a company that has been viewed as a threat to FedEx’s business for several years.
In 2019, FedEx opted not to renew a contract for flying Amazon cargo through FedEx Express. Subsequently, Amazon prohibited its sellers from using FedEx for Prime deliveries during the holiday season, citing declining performance. However, this ban was lifted the following year.
FedEx and UPS have faced formidable competition from Amazon, with the online retail giant surpassing both in the number of home package deliveries in the United States during 2022.
This shift occurred merely a few years after Amazon expanded its logistics operations, primarily relying on a network of closely managed third-party contractors, despite Amazon’s stance that these contractors are not considered its employees.
