Shipping

Word on the street is that Amazon is testing out something new in Seattle and it's not the Kindle tablet. We're talking about lockers at 7-Eleven mini-marts that will let online shoppers pick up their packages while they grab a hot dog instead of waiting for the UPS man at home.

The United States Postal Service has long lived on the financial edge, but it's never been as close to the precipice as it is now: the agency is so low on cash that it won't be able to make a $5.5 billion payment due this month and may have to shut down entirely this winter unless Congress takes emergency action to stabilize its finances.

This summer the U.S. Postal Service provided cross-channel retailers with its January 2012 software release overview for customer-facing postage systems such as PostalOne after hearing from mailers and service providers that software changes need to be made in a more stable, scheduled manner so they could better plan for said changes.

Nordstrom announced it's now offering free standard shipping and returns from Nordstrom.com every day for online orders of every size. The company said it's broadening its online free shipping and returns policy to all customers in an effort to improve the online shopping experience.

Sephora has launched its New York City same-day beauty delivery service. So who are the customers that have such an urgent need for beauty products? What do they order?

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports will remain below last year’s levels for the remainder of the summer before seeing year-over-year gains again this fall as retailers begin to stock up for the holiday season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

When China's online luxury shoppers click to spend on fashion website thecorner.com.cn, they'll have an option the company doesn't make available to any other customers around the world. FedEx delivery men will wait on the doorsteps of Chinese consumers while they inspect their purchases, try them on for size and decide if the products are worthy of keeping or sending back.

Gov. Terry Branstad is calling for a moratorium on post office closings until the United States Postal Service can better explain the criteria it will use to shut down some 3,700 post offices nationwide.

The Postal Service announced today that it will study more than 3,600 local offices, branches and stations for possible closing. Currently the post office operates more than 31,000 retail outlets across the country, down from 38,000 a decade ago, but in recent years business has declined sharply as first-class mail moved to the internet. In addition, the recession resulted in a decline in advertising mail, and the agency lost $8 billion last year.

OneStopPlus.com, a web mall for plus-size women and big-and-tall men, announced it's launched international shipping as part of a broader strategy to cultivate its rapidly expanding business.