\n<\/p>\n
Logistics company FedEx announced its own commerce platform called FDX today. The platform will likely compete against Amazon by offering merchants services like demand generation, fulfillment, tracking, and post-purchase experiences including returns.<\/p>\n
The company said that FDX is currently in private preview with plans for a wider launch in fall 2024. Businesses can register their interest in trying it out through a form<\/a>. The company didn\u2019t mention any brands that are part of the pilot program.<\/p>\n FedEx\u2019s announcement has a lot of marketing buzzwords including \u201cdata-driven,\u201d \u201cdigitally-led\u201d and \u201cend-to-end e-commerce solution for businesses of all sizes\u201d but is thin on details like how it will compete with existing platforms.<\/p>\n The company said that merchants could use FedEx\u2019s services such as ShopRunner \u2014 an e-commerce platform it acquired in 2020<\/a> \u2014 to reach customers, show estimated delivery time on websites, handle carts, track packages, record the carbon emission impact of deliveries, and manage returns.<\/p>\n Amazon has been offering Fulfiled by Amazon (FBA) for years now<\/a> to let merchants use the company\u2019s shipping and logistics infrastructure.<\/p>\n In 2022, Amazon started allowing third-party merchants who already use FBA to list Prime-eligible items on their own sites. In January 2023, the e-commerce giant expanded this feature to all U.S. merchants<\/a> and also allowed them to show Amazon reviews of an item on their site. Last November, Amazon launched new perks for Buy With Prime such as easy returns and customer support<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last year, the Wall Street Journal<\/a> reported that Amazon has been outpacing rivals FedEx and UPS in terms of package deliveries in the U.S<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2019, FedEx ended both air express<\/a> and ground delivery<\/a> contracts with Amazon. At that time, the Tennessee-based company said that Amazon represented only 1.3% of revenue for the 12-month period that ended in December 2018. In December 2019, Amazon blocked third-party merchants from using FedEx\u2019s ground delivery service for Prime shipments<\/a>, which was reversed a year later.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n