FedEx to bolster its e-commerce business in Asia

FedEx will expand its global e-commerce business in an effort to compete for the growing number of packages shipped to consumers from China and Japan, executives said Monday.

The company, which in 2014 acquired Bongo International, a company that helps shoppers purchase goods from foreign retailers by automatically adjusting currencies, and customs and shipping costs, by location, is rebranding the business as FedEx CrossBorder. The company plans to expand its services to merchants in China and Japan by next June, said Chip Hull, vice president of the newly named division. The company already consolidates shipments for global e-commerce retailers in the U.S., Europe and Peru.

Asia “is the second-largest region from an export perspective in the cross-border space, on par with Europe, and is growing at a faster rate,” Hull said. As global e-commerce grows at double-digit rates around the world, “Asia is certainly the 800-pound gorilla in the room.”

FedEx’s international e-commerce efforts have come as other companies are investing in helping retailers with international online-shopping services. United Parcel Service acquired i-Parcel around the same time that FedEx bought Bongo, and Pitney Bowes acquired Borderfree last year. Deutsche Post AG’s DHL also offers international e-commerce services.