Sales increased by more than 20% in the quarter, to $ 21.5 billion, while net income more than doubled to $ 890 million.
Much of the growth was due to the increased demand for products that people are buying on their phones and computers – a trend that is not going away anytime soon.
“We remain excited about the diversification and evolution of the e-commerce market,” said FedEx director of marketing and communications, Brie Carere, during a conference call with analysts on Thursday night. “Some of our largest retail customers have reported e-commerce growth rates in the double and up to three digits by 2020,”
Carere added that e-commerce was responsible for 20% of all retail sales in the United States in the fourth quarter of last year, significantly above pre-pandemic levels.
Carere ignored concerns that FedEx would lose momentum as more people venture out and shop in the physical world again, now that Covid-19 vaccines are on the rise.
She admitted that there is “the potential for a short-term slowdown in e-commerce purchases”, but that digital commerce would continue to grow as a percentage of the overall retail market.
FedEx CEO Fred Smith said during the call to analysts that the company is transporting vaccines to more than 220 countries and territories worldwide.
Vaccine deliveries so far have been “almost perfect,” he added, noting that “you can count in your hands the number of problems with the number of vaccines we deliver in the millions.”