Quick question: Which of the Big 3 U.S. parcel carriers delivers the most ecommerce packages? Surprise: It’s the United States Postal Service. So why are ecommerce merchants shifting their shipments to the USPS? Multichannel Merchant dove into this topic, and got some answers from some small- and medium-size merchants.
The U.S. Post Office continued the trend of strong growth in its parcel business while showing losses in mail delivery in its third quarter results. But help may be on the way in the form of a postal reform bill that would lessen the burden of mandated pre-funding of retiree health benefits.
Shipping solutions firm OSM Worldwide has seen a 52% increase in domestic shipping revenue from 2015 to 2016, driven largely by growth in ecommerce demand.
Driven by ecommerce demand and competitive pressure, UPS is testing Saturday delivery this summer, reportedly in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The volume of shipments will determine continuation and future expansion of the service.
While bundled pricing from a major national carrier can seem like a good deal, there are a number of advantages to diversifying your overall shipping mix. Here are 6 concrete benefits e-retailers are seeing from unbundling and spreading out their shipping volume.
Smaller merchants doing business in Canada are getting product out the door and setting up contingencies in anticipation of a possible Canada Post strike. See what options are available, and what impact the work stoppage could have.
FedEx’s continued focus on ecommerce growth, reflected in its capital spending and recent spate of acquisitions, paid dividends in fiscal 2016, especially the 20% growth in ground revenue. Walmart’s recent addition of a subscription service in response to Amazon Prime, partially served by regional carriers, is not a concern, company executives said.
Stamps.com announced plans to acquire ShippingEasy, an Austin, TX-based provider of multi-carrier shipping software, for $55 million. This is in addition to its acquisition of Endicia, ShipStation and ShipWorks over the past couple of years.
Amazon doesn’t need to take over the last mile of ecommerce delivery, but it does need to reduce its massive shipping cost burden in order to maintain its recent run of profitability, which is the logic behind its recent logistics moves.
The U.S. Postal Service reported operating revenue of $17.7 billion in Q2, up $788 million or 4.7% from 2015. The increase was primarily due to an 11.4% gain in shipping and package volume and pricing changes. While the USPS keeps posting double-digit parcel gains, it continues to drown in pension-driven red ink, with a $2 billion quarterly net loss, up from $1.5 billion a year ago.