Federal Express Corporation (FedEx) reported elevated business confidence in holiday-season sales, driven by sustained growth in cross-border e-commerce and major online shopping festivals across Asia Pacific and Europe.
The survey, conducted in September 2025, covered 850 small and medium-sized enterprises and 850 consumers in 13 Asia Pacific markets and more than 1,200 SMEs across nine European markets, measuring expectations, consumer behavior, and operational readiness for the year-end peak.
More than 70 percent of Asia Pacific businesses and over 80 percent of European firms expect stronger holiday sales year over year, reflecting accelerating cross-border demand, particularly shipments from Europe into Asia Pacific. Many Asia Pacific sellers began seasonal preparations as early as September to support higher volumes.
Online demand is structurally rising. Eighty-eight percent of Asia Pacific consumers plan to conduct at least a quarter of their holiday shopping online, while 53 percent expect to increase online spending versus last year.
Events such as Singles’ Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are now central to purchase timing, with 83 percent of Asian consumers planning around these promotions. Ninety-one percent of Asia Pacific businesses and 83 percent of European firms view these festivals as critical revenue windows.
Operational risk remains concentrated in speed and cost. Nearly 90 percent of Asia Pacific shoppers cite efficient shipping as decisive. Delayed deliveries and elevated shipping costs remain the top friction points, cited by 55 percent and 45 percent of consumers, respectively.
Over half of Asia Pacific buyers indicate they would increase purchases from European sellers with lower delivery costs or faster transit times.
Businesses are reallocating investment toward execution. Twenty-nine percent of Asia Pacific and 33 percent of European companies are upgrading fulfillment and delivery capabilities, while over 30 percent in both regions are expanding customer service capacity.
Despite execution pressure, 85 percent of firms across both regions report confidence in meeting holiday delivery deadlines, signaling improved logistics resilience.
FedEx is positioning its digital and logistics stack to capture peak demand. The company has integrated its Ship Manager platform with major e-commerce platforms including Shopify and BigCommerce to compress order-to-ship cycles.
Its International Connect Plus service targets one-to-three day cross-border delivery to Asia Pacific, the United States, and Europe, aligning with rising consumer expectations.
Last-mile infrastructure is now a competitive lever. FedEx has deployed roughly 260,000 smart lockers across Asia Pacific and expanded proof-of-delivery and tracking tools to reduce failed deliveries and customer disputes, tightening control over the highest-risk segment of the holiday logistics chain.
Strategic implications are clear: sellers facing cross-border demand must prioritize shipping speed, cost discipline, and last-mile reliability to defend conversion rates, while carriers that can compress delivery windows without margin erosion are positioned to capture holiday season share.
