From Wall Street Journal:

FedEx Corp. Chief Executive Fred Smith took a tough line with e-commerce companies on Wednesday, saying they need to shape up sloppy shipping practices or risk losing customers.

A significant part of the industry’s Christmas-delivery mess, he said, stemmed from problems on the part of retailers.

Retailers, he said, claimed that packages had been tendered to FedEx and rival United Parcel Service Inc. for delivery to their customers before they actually were. In addition, labels were often affixed incorrectly or items weren’t properly packaged and subject to damage, the executive added, sounding like the Marine Corps veteran that he is, while speaking on an earnings conference call with analysts.

Retailers’ shortcomings on their side of the delivery equation “is a big part of the e-commerce business that really didn’t get enough publicity last year because they were an integral part of the problem even more than the weather and the carrier performance,” the FedEx chief said.

UPS delivered a record 31 million packages on Dec. 23, up 13% from its peak day in 2012, while FedEx said it had at least three record delivery days in December of more than 22 million packages.

Adding to that, online orders on Dec. 23 were up 63% from a year earlier, according to Mercent Corp., which works with more than 550 retailers.

On Dec. 24, FedEx’s on-time rate was about 90%, compared with 98% the previous year, according to numbers from SJ Consulting Group Inc., which provides consulting services to the transportation and logistics industries. UPS’s on-time rate fell to about 83%, compared with 97% on Christmas Eve in 2012.

FedEx Takes Sloppy E-Tailers to Task