In the midst of the busiest time of the year, FedEx’s ground delivery service has been discarded by Amazon as a method of delivery for their Amazon Prime service. The move has been a long time coming. The volatile relationship between the two companies has now come to a head.
Over the years, the culture of competition between the two companies has been evident through reforms to effectiveness of each shipping service.
Now, Amazon’s agenda prioritizing speed of delivery has led them to withdraw FedEx as an option for Prime shippers. The company said in a statement that the ban will take effect “ until the delivery performance of these ship methods improves.”
These actions have implications on the futures of many small sellers on the website, as their shipping abilities may be impaired by the FedEx ban. This move could affect the livelihoods of sellers who rely on FedEx ground shipping for their Prime shipping, and in this time period, where shipping and selling are as busy as ever, small businesses could take major loses for the foreseeable future.
Despite the moves to eliminate FedEx ground shipping as a method of shipping for Amazon Prime, FedEx ground shipping will still be available for orders that do not fall under Amazon’s Prime service, and Prime shippers will be permitted to use FedEx’s Express.