INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Third-party vendors were told by Amazon over the weekend that they are barred from using FedEx ground delivery services for Prime
The Wall Street Journal reports that a message sent by Amazon to merchants on Sunday said the ban will last &until the delivery performance
of these ship methods improves.& The e-commerce platform will still allow FedEx Ground for non-Prime shipments and FedEx Express, a faster
but pricier option, for Prime.
Third-party sellers now account for more than half the products sold on Amazon.com and the company decision
on FedEx ground delivery comes during the peak of the holiday shopping season
Over the summer, FedEx ended partnerships with Amazon to provide it with express air deliveries and ground shipments.
An Amazon spokesperson
said that the company is managing cutoffs for delivery by Christmas and want to ensure that customers receive their packages on time
TechCrunch has also contacted FedEx for comment.
Both FedEx and UPS both experienced recent shipping delays, which they said were caused by
record shipping volumes and weather issues.
Amazon has also been under scrutiny by federal antitrust regulators, with some complaints
centered on whether or not it forces sellers to rely on its own logistics network
The company focus on its warehouse and delivery services, combined with its status as the largest online retailer in the U.S., has turned it
into a major competitor against FedEx, UPS and the United States Postal Service.
A recent Morgan Stanley report estimates that Amazon is
currently delivering about 46% of the items ordered through its U.S
site and predicts Amazon Logistics not only start providing shipments for non-Amazon orders, but overtake FedEx, UPS and the USPS in
