FedEx Officially Launches Sunday Delivery

FedEx Ground has expanded home delivery to include Sundays, the company announced Wednesday (Jan. 22).

“Every day is now a delivery day at FedEx,” Raj Subramaniam, president and chief operating officer at FedEx, said in a statement.

Sunday deliveries will extend to the majority of the U.S. population, serving roughly 7,700 homes and 188 million people.

“Delivering seven days a week was critical to our success this past peak season as we experienced some of the highest volume days in the history of the company, including shipping nearly 38 million packages on Cyber Monday alone,” added Subramaniam.

The company made the announcement in May, pointing to the acceleration of eCommerce and online shopping. UPS also announced it was adding Sunday delivery.

“Now that FedEx Ground delivers FedEx Home Delivery packages on Sundays to most U.S. residences, we have increased our speed advantage significantly to kick off the new year,” said Subramaniam.

“As more customers expect weekend delivery, this enhancement to our network means that every day is now a delivery day at FedEx,” he said.

Sunday delivery speeds delivery by one or two days, which is a particular benefit when it comes to healthcare and perishable items. FedEx Ground said it is quicker and more expansive than UPS Ground.

The company rolled out Sunday deliveries over the holiday season in 2019, where it saw a 42 percent year-over-year growth during December. It brought packages to almost eight million homes from Black Friday to Christmas Eve.

Almost 18 percent of FedEx Ground deliveries arrived a day early. FedEx Ground said it “maintained year-round transit time standards throughout the holidays, setting a higher standard than our primary competitor.”

Amazon lifted its ban on FedEx Ground as a shipping option for third-party merchants. On Tuesday (Jan. 14), Amazon notified merchants that they could resume the use of the FedEx Ground network to place orders through Amazon Prime. The shipping provider was banned right before Christmas and for a few weeks afterward.