FedEx Corp. expects to have its busiest day in history on Monday, Dec. 10 when it moves a projected 19 million shipments through its global ground, express and freight networks.

The 10 percent, year-over-year, busiest day increase will once again be driven by  e-commerce feeding the FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost networks on “Green Monday,” which falls on the second Monday of December and is one of the most lucrative days of the year for retail companies.  In 2011, U.S. consumers spent $1.1 billion on Green Monday alone, according to comScore.  Green Monday also traditionally kicks off the heaviest online shopping week of the year.

For the overall holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, FedEx forecasts more than 280 million shipments to move through its worldwide shipping networks. This would be a year-over-year volume increase of more than 13 percent compared to 2011 when 247 million shipments were processed. 

FedEx plans to increase with approximately 20,000 seasonal personnel to help handle the surge in holiday shipments at FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery and FedEx SmartPost.

“The continued trend toward record Peak volumes is a testament to the strength, speed and reliability of the FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost networks,” said Frederick W. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of FedEx Corp.  “FedEx team members from around the globe, 300,000 strong, are prepared to help drive commerce during the busy holiday season and beyond.”

Holiday volumes are retail-driven, with goods such as personal electronics, apparel, luxury goods and items from large internet retailers accounting for holiday shipping volumes. 

The impact of the expected higher FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost volumes were included in the company’s earnings guidance for fiscal 2013.

The Holiday Retail Outlook

The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects holiday sales to increase 4.1 percent this year to $586.1 billion. The NRF’s forecast is higher than the 10-year average holiday sales increase of 3.5 percent. 

Online holiday sales (excluding travel) are expected to grow 16.8 percent year-over-year to as much as $54.5 billion, according to eMarketer.  Almost $1 out of every $10 of consumer discretionary spending is now online according to comScore for eCommerce & U.S. Department of Commerce for Retail, February 2012.