Federal Express

No. 1 on the list of chores the Internet has done away with: dragging yourself to the store to stock up on unwieldy items and carting them home. Many e-commerce companies - led by Amazon.com and the sites it owns, like Diapers.com and Soap.com - have made it easy to order even items like toilet paper and diapers without paying a cent for shipping. So when FedEx announced last week that it would change its shipping prices to

No. 1 on the list of chores the Internet has done away with: dragging yourself to the store to stock up on unwieldy items and carting them home. Many e-commerce companies - led by Amazon.com and the sites it owns, like Diapers.com and Soap.com — have made it easy t

FedEx is changing the way it charges to ship bulky packages, jolting e-commerce companies with price increases for delivering items as diverse as diapers, shoes and paper towels. Instead of charging by weight alone, all ground packages will now be priced according to size. In effect, that will mean a price increase on more than a third of its U.S. ground shipments. The big question now is whether UPS will follow the pricing move. Many analysts think it will. The two companies have historically matched price increases rather than seize the chance for a competitive advantage.

Amazon.com has been testing the use of its own delivery vehicles in Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco following an earlier pilot in the U.K. Does Amazon's move mean it will compete with UPS and FedEx and become a third private player in the U.S. parcel delivery market? Certainly it will have an impact and could begin to manage inventory, fulfillment and delivery for other consumer products businesses.

Recent initiatives by eBay, Google, Wal-Mart and the U.S, Postal Service, coupled with the growth of Amazon Fresh, which boasts "same or next-day delivery of almost everything you want to buy — from fresh produce, meat and seafood to diapers, DVDs and toys," have made it clear that same-day delivery is here to stay. In fact, it's increasingly become an option consumers not only turn to and pay a premium for, but now expect to see. To stay competitive in this new market, here are the seven key steps retailers must take to begin a functional same-day delivery program:

Weighing the revenue generated by subscriptions against the cost of shipping, Amazon.com has clearly lost money on Prime. And let's be honest: Prime isn't about the Kindle lending library or the on-demand videos; it's about the fast, "free" delivery. So it's no surprise that Amazon's recent announcement of a price increase for Prime was welcomed by investors, who foresee improved margins in the coming years. Retailers should treat the announcement as good news too. Why?

Every time the USPS announces rate changes all the stakeholders come out of the woodwork, with many of them bemoaning the increases and how it will impact their operation. Relax! Take a deep breath. All told, this rate change will have minimal impact to most, favorable impact to some and not so favorable, but tolerable changes for others. The positive

Men's Wearhouse has introduced international shipping to online customers in more than 100 countries. The company is promising affordable shipping rates and order totals guaranteed at the time of purchase to the international community. "We have customers around the world that trust us as their menswear fashion expert, but the only way they could shop with us was if they were based in the USA," said Men's Wearhouse Executive Vice President Susan Neal. "With our international shipping option, our customers will be able to shop and ship to more than 100 countries anytime and anywhere that's convenient for them."

Managing a fully functional e-commerce site as part of your retail operation is a bit like owning a house — you're constantly concerned with what might break next and how to go about fixing it. Much like proper maintenance on your home goes a long way to keeping the handyman at bay, there are several common sense steps you can take to make sure that your omnichannel strategy stays fresh and your online presence relevant. For most retailers, the web is an extremely important — often the most important — channel for profitability.

Despite a slow start to its same-day delivery program for e-commerce purchases, the U.S. Postal Service is in a strong position to challenge FedEx, UPS and other competitors in that potentially lucrative market. USPS began testing same-day delivery under the brand name of Metro Post in San Francisco at the beginning of 2013. It promised delivery by 8 p.m. of packages tendered by 2 p.m. on that day. In December, it extended the pilot to New York City.