FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service, two of America’s largest private shipping giants, recently revised their projected earnings for 2024 — UPS in July, FedEx last week. Each company attributed their respective performance dips to at least one shared phenomenon: falling demand for priority shipping.

As shipping giants impacted by shifts in myriad industries, FedEx and UPS serve as unique bellwethers for broader consumer trends and behaviors. So it’s interesting that while both companies are recording declines in speedy shipping, Americans aren’t shopping less. In fact, they’re shopping more, with e-commerce sales up as much as 8% in August compared to a year prior.

At first, you might assume Americans are simply cutting back where they can. Sure, U.S. consumers are consuming just as much as usual, if not more, but they’re also looking to save amid high prices. That’s certainly part of the story, behavioral economists told Salon.

“People are starting to think through needs versus wants a little bit more,” Elizabeth Schwab, founding chair of The Chicago’s School’s graduate behavioral economics program, said. “I think we're getting better at delaying gratification.”

Related

But another novel consumer behavior is cutting into shipping giants’ bottom lines: shopping on Temu.

If you haven’t shopped on Temu, you’re in an increasingly small minority of American shoppers: Nearly six in 10 U.S. consumers made a purchase on the global e-commerce platform in the past year.........

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