This holiday season, ecommerce order fulfillment will likely cost more. High demand for capacity and overall increases in operating costs are resulting in peak holiday season surcharges for companies with parcel shipments across ecommerce order fulfillment networks. With Black Friday now less than 90 days away, shippers can expect to pay more per package starting as early as October 3, 2021, with parcel rate increases that will remain in effect through mid-January 2022.
TAGG Logistics, a leading 3PL company, has written today’s blog post as part of our TAGG Peak Prep program. TAGG Peak Prep is a volume forecasting and resource allocation strategy built to keep client orders flowing in a timely manner during the peak holiday season.
Here’s more about the recent peak holiday season announcements from UPS, Fedex and USPS:
UPS & Parcel Surcharges for ecommerce order fulfillment:
UPS has announced surcharges across the board for International shipments, as well as US Domestic shipments. For US Domestic Shipments for US Ground Residential, a surcharge of $0.30 per package remains in effect through October 30, 2021. TAGG anticipates additional surcharge announcements to extend through the 2021 holiday peak season to be forthcoming.
Read more about UPS Surcharges
FEDEX & Parcel Surcharges for ecommerce order fulfillment:
Fedex reports that they expect the surge in residential volumes to begin this fall, and carry over into the 2022 new year. They have announced several peak season surcharges and fees for US Express, Ground services and Ground international to go into effect October 4, 2021 and continue through January 16, 2022. Surcharges range from as little as $0.60 (US Residential delivery surcharge) to upwards of $350.00 (US Ground Services, International Ground Service for Ground Unauthorized Package charge).
Read more about Fedex Surcharges
USPS & Parcel Surcharges for ecommerce order fulfillment:
Additional peak season surcharges and fees for the United States Postal Service will also go into effect starting October 3, 2021. Changes are reflected in the prices for commercial and retail domestic competitive parcels, including Priority Mail Express (PME), Priority Mail (PM), First-Class Package Service (FCPS), Parcel Select, USPS Retail Ground, and Parcel Return Service. Surcharge rate increases range from $0.25 to $5.00 per package depending on the shipping zone and weight range.
Read more about USPS Surcharges
OSM Worldwide also announces parcel surcharge
OSM has also announced a parcel surcharge for Holiday peak season of $.025 per package.
Ecommerce Order Fulfillment Insights
Last holiday season, more than a million gifts ordered online were not delivered in time, according to CBSNews.com. The causes were unprecedented—including a dramatic increase in residential shipment volumes for ecommerce order fulfillment, a tight labor market and a shortage of transportation resources. These fulfillment challenges remain as we head into the 2021 holiday season.
Stay Prepared and Informed this Holiday Season
You can rely on TAGG Peak Prep, brought to you exclusively by TAGG Logistics, to help you stay ahead of fulfillment dynamics for the holiday season.
Footnote: Because the holiday peak season is dynamic and changes quickly, we recommend getting the most up-to-date information from parcel carriers directly on their websites at USPS.com, Fedex.com and UPS.com.
