Postal

Amazon to Help Individuals Build Their Own Delivery Companies
June 28, 2018 at 12:57 pm

Amazon.com announced today the launch of a new offering designed to help individuals build their own companies that deliver Amazon packages. With the offering, Amazon will provide an active role in helping interested entrepreneurs start, set up and manage their own delivery businesses, even with little or no logistics experience. Amazon will offer the  couriers — who…

Undeliverable Parcels And The High Cost Of Merchandise Returns
August 21, 2017 at 11:43 am

Amazon.com announced today the launch of a new offering designed to help individuals build their own companies that deliver Amazon packages. With the offering, Amazon will provide an active role in helping interested entrepreneurs start, set up and manage their own delivery businesses, even with little or no logistics experience. Amazon will offer the  couriers — who […]

USPS to Halt Retail Sales at Staples
January 6, 2017 at 11:08 am

When the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and Staples announced a retail partnership in 2013, USPS said "it’s time to celebrate.” But now, that program has been shut down and it's postal labor leaders who are rejoicing. They're cheering the demise of a program that had been the target of a vigorous campaign by postal unions that…

Proposed Postal Changes May Result in Lower Rates for Catalogs
October 25, 2016 at 8:26 am

The postage rate changes proposed by the U.S. Postal Service on Oct. 12 are to go into effect on Jan. 22, 2017, pending approval by the Postal Regulatory Commission. The good news? This isn’t a flat-out rate hike; in fact, some catalog postage rates may actually decline. The changes include the following: Standard mail flats will…

Fighting for Catalogers’ Futures
October 10, 2016 at 5:07 pm

It can be easy for a catalog, or really any type of retail CEO, to overlook things. After all, especially with a catalog operation, there are so many factors that go into running a profitable business, right? Unless you’re a small mom-and-pop shop, wherein you personally oversee everything from soup to nuts, if you can…

An Analysis of Retail Print Circulars for Back to School
July 27, 2016 at 10:15 pm

As August approaches, the back-to-school (BTS) shopping season is on the minds of retailers everywhere. Recently, we covered Target’s college supply registry, which rolled out this year to capture some of the early BTS shopping dollars. However, according to our Shopper Insight Survey, 63 percent of BTS shoppers plan to do the majority of their…

The End of Postage Discounting for Lower-Volume Shippers?
July 26, 2016 at 9:19 am

This is a guest post by Gordon Glazer, director of modal optimization and affiliate strategies at Shipware, a parcel audit and consulting firm. In the interest of full disclosure, Gordon recently took a small short position on Stamps.com after the two reports mentioned were published. Also, Shipware provides access to discounted postage pricing through one…

Retailers Using USPS for Last-Mile Delivery Seek New Sorting Options
July 6, 2016 at 1:48 pm

It’s no secret that major changes are occurring in parcel delivery, with parcel carriers increasingly teaming up with the United States Postal Service (USPS). The parcel carries utilize their transportation networks to deliver packages close to its final destinations — often to a local post office — and the USPS takes it from there to…

USPS Touts E-Commerce Initiatives in Plea for Postal Reform
May 16, 2016 at 10:35 am

Postmaster General Megan Brennan called on Congress to enact legislation to help the Postal Service after releasing the agency's second-quarter financial report last week. She called the agency's challenges "serious but solvable." Brennan testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday, saying the USPS has worked with stakeholders on several provisions that can…