FedEx is gearing up to enter the ecommerce arena with its own online shopping platform called “fdx,” set to launch later this year. The delivery giant unveiled its plans on Sunday, pitching fdx as a soup-to-nuts ecommerce solution for sellers, providing tools and services for reaching shoppers, fulfilling orders, managing returns, and everything in between.
At first blush, it sounds an awful lot like a certain trillion-dollar ecommerce behemoth we all know. But FedEx believes its unmatched logistics insights can give fdx an edge. The company says the data-powered platform will leverage its delivery expertise to optimize the buying and selling process from start to finish.
When fdx drops this fall, sellers will tap into FedEx’s massive delivery network and existing pool of ShopRunner loyalists. Shoppers will see estimated shipping times and carbon emissions stats as they browse and fill their online carts — no need to check out first. And armed with FedEx’s shipping intelligence, sellers can choose the most efficient fulfillment routes to keep costs and environmental impact low.
FedEx calls fdx the “first-of-its-kind” for an ecommerce platform. That’s some pretty ambitious marketing spin. Because at first glance, fdx sounds like an awful lot like Amazon Marketplace, just with some sustainability metrics and logistics sprinkles on top.
But for fdx to genuinely catch on, it can’t just be Amazon Marketplace with a green sheen. FedEx will need to spotlight some truly unique value in both seller tools and shopper experience when fdx debuts this fall. Otherwise, prying people away from Amazon may be too tall an order, even for a shipping titan like FedEx.
