Shipping

The Mint empire, which includes StyleMint, Kate Bosworth's jewelry site JewelMint, and Rachel Bilson's venture ShoeMint, have announced shipping to Canada is officially in effect.

comScore has reported retail e-commerce spending for the first 46 days of the November-December 2011 holiday season. For the holiday season to date, $30.9 billion has been spent online, a 15 percent increase vs. the corresponding days last year.

UPS has announced 6.9 percent air increases, partially offset by a 2 percent fuel surcharge reduction. It's also announced a 5.9 percent average ground increase, offset somewhat by a 1 percent fuel surcharge reduction. Net increases for both UPS Air and UPS Ground are 4.9 percent effective Jan. 2, 2012.

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports should be up 0.3 percent in December compared with the same month last year as retailers head to the finish line of the holiday shopping season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

Thanks to a calendar shift, procrastinators this holiday season will have a few more days to think about the perfect gift. According to Shop.org, 87 percent of retailers’ standard shipping deadlines for Christmas delivery will expire before or on Dec. 20.

The U.S. Postal Service will delay the closing or consolidation of additional post office or mail processing facilities until May 15, 2012. The USPS said that it made the decision in response to a request made by multiple U.S. Senators.

eBay has launched a new feature called Guaranteed Arrival to highlight items that are available and guaranteed to be delivered in time for the holidays. At this time, it's only available to a small number of eBay sellers, including ShoeMall and Black and Decker.

The U.S. Postal Service announced it will move forward with its proposal to change service standards. This action is being taken in response to ongoing financial challenges caused by the dramatic and continual decline in First Class mail volume and the resulting revenue loss.

Google is working on a delivery service to allow consumers to order items from local stores on the web and receive them at their homes or offices within a day. The service is in an early testing phase, according to the NY Times.

Considering the United States Postal Service's well-documented financial struggles, it's no surprise that it's looking to follow in the footsteps of some public transportation fleets by selling ads on some of its vehicles.