The Christmas shopping spree in America has left retailers and courier companies in a panic.

The Wall Street Journal online edition today published a review of the "online shopping blowout delayed to UPS and retailers unawares" (Late Surge in Web Buying blindsides ups, Retailers) Due to the Christmas shopping season in the United States this year, the net purchase volume increased, and the blowout time has been postponed, leading to major retailers and courier companies by surprise, many orders have not been in the Christmas Eve on time before the hands of consumers.

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Online Shopping Blowout

This year's Christmas shopping season in the United States to buy a blowout, making it difficult for many businesses to fulfill the promise of delivering goods before Christmas. This phenomenon shows that retailers and courier companies still do not fully comprehend the internet age shopping law.

Amazon, Kohl ' s and Wal-Mart have all pledged to deliver the goods to consumers by December 25, but some have failed to meet their commitments.

UPS said in late Tuesday that the company's system was overwhelmed by the last-minute volume of purchases, making it impossible to deliver some goods on time during Christmas. A spokesman for the company said: "The number of air parcels in the UPS system has exceeded the established load due to the far greater demand than expected." ”

Although FedEx spokesman said the company's distribution did not have a large range of delays, but they also received a lot of distribution is not timely reports.

During the Christmas shopping season, Americans are far more online than usual. This year's trend further intensified, leading to some businesses and courier companies caught off guard.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, E-commerce accounts for about 6% of total retail sales in the United States. The United States Retail Federation said the Christmas shopping season this year's net purchases accounted for nearly 14%.

Ibmdigital Analytics's data show that total U.S. net purchases rose 37% per cent year-on-year on the last weekend before Christmas. Forrester, a market-research firm, predicts total U.S. net purchases will grow by 15% per cent during the Christmas shopping season due to a drop in shopping malls and weak physical shop sales.

Retail industry analysts said that although the impact of weather, network failures and manufacturers delay delivery can not be ignored, but unexpected online shopping blowout may be the most important reason for the delivery is not timely.

Mercent, a company that helped 550 retailers deal with online retailing, said the company's CEO Eric Baxter, although some businesses postponed delivery deadlines this year, did not anticipate a spike in online orders in the last few weeks of December. "During the shopping season, these retailers reached the shipping limit. "he said.

Corporate response

UPS has shipped about 45% of the package to the United States, and a spokesman for the company said its air transport network had exceeded its initial estimate of 7.75 million shipments in Monday. In a notice to some Amazon users, UPS said some parcels will be delayed due to "not receiving packages from the recipient".

The Amazon Order Fulfillment center processed the orders on time during the shopping season and delivered them to The courier company. "We will evaluate the performance of the Express company," Amazon spokesman said in Wednesday. ”

The spokeswoman also said Amazon would return courier fees to users affected and provide 20 of dollars in gift cards. But she declined to say how many users were affected or could enjoy such refunds.

Brandon Scott Brandon Scott, who lives in Michigan, Ann Arbor, is still waiting for his 46-inch Samsung TV and Kate Spade watch, which he bought in Saturday, on Christmas Eve.

"I'm a little depressed because these things can be easily bought at my retail store." If it wasn't for Amazon's guarantee that it would be delivered before Christmas, I'd have enjoyed the pleasure of it. "he said.

Alabama Alexandria Andy Burks (Andi Burks) bought a sweater online for her husband on the internet December 19, although it was a day ahead of the deadline for Christmas delivery, which was promised by Kohl, but she still did not receive the goods on time. "I thought that since they were guaranteed on the website, there should be no problem," he said. "she said.

Kohl's Tuesday said it would pay the full cost of goods not delivered on time. "We apologize to customers who did not receive the package on Christmas time," a spokesman for the company said. ”

Groupon sent a message to users this week advising users to print out photos of items that were not delivered in a timely fashion, instead of giving them to friends and relatives, and promising to provide 25 of dollars in gift cards to users who did not receive the goods in time. "We know it won't make up for the disappointment of not getting a Christmas present in time," the company said. ”

A Groupon spokeswoman said the company was successful in fulfilling and distributing most of its orders.

It is not clear how far this delay in the distribution problem will affect. Kohl's, Wal-Mart and UPS all said that only a very small number of users were affected, but declined to disclose specific numbers.

Unforeseen

Part of the problem, some retailers say, is the need to deal with the surge in orders in a shorter time period: the shopping day between Thanksgiving and Christmas has been reduced by 6 days.

Sucharita Mulpuru, a Sucharita Mourproux analyst at the US market research firm, said that in general, about 15% of shoppers on the last date listed by the retailer could not receive the package on Christmas Eve. But as the amount of online shopping and gift mailing increases, even if the percentage does not change, the error rate may climb.

"Retailers think they can process orders before the last minute, but they don't process and pack fast enough." "Mourproux said.

Retailers such as Amazon and Wal-Mart have set up more order fulfillment centers and other infrastructure to handle the surge in orders. Amazon has hired 70,000 seasonal workers for U.S. warehouses this year, up 40% from last year.

In order to alleviate the possible distribution bottlenecks, many chain retailers have launched a "line up and down orders, offline delivery" service. But the move has made some Wal-Mart users grumble because the company's physical stores are unable to deliver the promised goods.

As part of the "Black Friday" promotions, Wal-Mart said that customers queuing up outside the store would be able to register online if the goods were snapped. After that, the product will be sent to the store on December 22, and then notify the user to take delivery. But some of these commitments have not been met on time.

Wal-Mart said the sales participants reached 5 million, with only a small percentage of them affected.

Wal-Mart says all users who fail to receive the package on time will receive a 25 dollar gift card. "We extend our deepest apologies to customers who have not received their orders on time," a spokesman for the company said. ”

On Thanksgiving weekend, Kentucky State Louisville's Trens Cavannave (Terence Kavanaugh) went to Wal-Mart to buy a 98-dollar Emerson TV for her 9-year-old daughter, but did not receive the goods until Christmas Eve. After a total loss of hope, he went to Best buy and spent 179 dollars to buy a same TV set.

"It's a lot more expensive, but I don't want Wal-Mart to ruin my daughter's Christmas," she said. "he said.