If you don’t shop online, you’re part of a select group. According to Statista, 74.3% of the American population purchased goods online in 2021, and that number is expected to eclipse 80% in 2025.
E-commerce is the name of the shopping game these days, and if you’re a business with a product to sell, luring in and retaining customers when there's a sea of other online merchants can be challenging.
Through a new strategic alliance, however, FedEx is looking to bolster the e-commerce experience for both merchants and consumers.
Recently, one of the company’s subsidiaries, FedEx Dataworks, announced it had partnered with Cart.com, the Austin-based provider of ecommerce solutions that raised $240 million in debt and equity fundraising early in 2022.
Together, the two companies will look to leverage data and insights from their networks, to create integrated solutions that can help address some of the biggest e-commerce challenges facing merchants and consumers.
“We’re developing new tools to help merchants make more informed supply chain decisions in alignment with their fulfillment plans, sustainability goals, and consumer promises,” said Sriram Krishnasamy, CEO of FedEx Dataworks, in a press release. “Now, by combining the reach and depth of Cart.com and FedEx data and analytics, we plan to offer an integrated set of capabilities designed to help merchants deliver best-in-class e-commerce experiences from inspiration to delivery and returns.”
So, just what will this set of capabilities include?
The two are planning to provide an improved omnichannel experience, which could help merchants drive demand across channels. They’re also set to offer more options that meet delivery expectations, greater shipping visibility, and fulfillment insights that help merchants strategically store and source inventory.
In addition to this, the platform will provide Cart.com users with access to Shoprunner, the Chicago-based e-commerce platform that FedEx acquired for $228 million in December 2020.
The partnership comes after e-commerce’s meteoric rise during the COVID-19 pandemic. With people hunkered down in their homes, online shopping increased significantly. The waning of COVID, however, hasn’t led to a steep drop in digital sales.
Cyber Monday came to a close three days ago. And according to Adobe Analytics, consumers spent $11.3 billion on the day this year — a new record, and a 5.8% increase from the amount spent in 2021. This came after Black Friday, when consumers spent $9.12 billion online — which is also a record.
Throughout Cyber Week — which includes Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday — consumers spent $35.3 billion.
