UPS on track to return record number of parcels
SEATTLE: United Parcel Service Inc (UPS) is on track to return a record number of packages this holiday shipping season, a sign that e-commerce purchases surged to new heights over the past month.
The package delivery company and rival FedEx Corp get paid by retailers like Amazon.com Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc for handling e-commerce deliveries.
Both have benefited from booming delivery volumes over the past few years, but also have had to invest billions of dollars to upgrade and expand their networks to cope.
UPS said on Wednesday it handled more than one million returns to retailers daily this month, a pace expected to last into early January.
It said returns would likely peak at 1.4 million on January 3, which would be a fifth consecutive annual record, up eight per cent from this year.
The returns follow what could be the strongest holiday shopping season on record for both brickand-mortar and online retailers, once stores publish sales data.
Mastercard Inc said on Tuesday United States shoppers s p e n t o v e r US $ 8 0 0 b i l l i o n (RM3.25 trillion) during the season, more than ever before.
FedEx said on Wednesday it experienced another record-breaking peak shipping season, but did not provide specifics. Reuters