Anybody who’s ever ordered stuff online knows that one of the biggest slices of that pie is the mighty platform of e-commerce giant Amazon.com, arguably the largest e-retailer around. The upsurge of Amazon and similar online platforms to buy and sell underscores the shift in trends of the internet being the place to go for what you need over going out into the real world and shopping at an actual store, much to the detriment of “traditional” outlets like Macy’s that have been forced to close more stores lately. Another that’s taken a few lumps from how Amazon does things is FedEx, which has been having its own off moments with lower earnings affecting their stock on the NYSE.

Now, however, the global shipping brand may have a means to rehab their standing as well as take on Amazon at their own game of e-commerce.

Logistics for hire

In line with this, FedEx on February 7 has launched fedex fulfillment, a new logistics network service that may be just what numerous small and medium businesses need. Any of these SMB’s interested in participating will be able to store their products in FedEx warehouses across the US and Canada. One these businesses received online orders, FedEx can simply take their goods from their warehouse space and ship the orders to the companies’ clients. Even better, the Fulfillment package offers box and parcel customization options to the availing SMB’s, so that the delivered packages will be sporting not FedEx’s own logo but that of the product’s manufacturer themselves.

In essence, the shipping giant is putting a whole new spin on how Amazon had prospered since 2000 when they began offering Marketplace listings and warehouse storage to third-party merchants and their goods. Upon making an online purchase of these third-party products, Amazon takes care of the shipping, for a cut of the partner merchant’s profits.

While the Amazon Marketplace platform has been a godsend to many a small enterprise wanting to sell products online, this e-commerce arrangement has not been without catches. Amazon itself is selling their own line of goods that are in competition with their third-party partners. Worse, Amazon has a sort of unfair advantage in being able to observe what partner products is really selling big on their online marketplace, and therefore make those same goods with the Amazon brand.

No ‘dealing with the devil.'

Here is where FedEx has a better appeal over Amazon. It’s not a retailer, strictly a shipper. Without its own line of goods as competition, the Fulfillment service is a more “non-threatening” choice for little businesses looking to try selling online. By focusing on logistics for these enterprises, FedEx has a chance at sticking it to Amazon where e-commerce is concerned.