With the holidays fast approaching, online retailers recently received some good news: the USPS will be adding Sunday delivery in 20 major U.S. markets. The move takes aim at UPS and FedEx’s parcel business and comes just in time for the holiday rush.
Our Endicia blog contributor Rieva Lesonsky recently covered this news — as well as how the USPS will alleviate some of the holiday shipping stress for online businesses. Here’s what she had to say:
With ecommerce sales expected to rise between 8 and 11 percent this season (according to the National Retail Federation) choosing the right shipping solution and ensuring that your customers aren’t disappointed is more important than ever. What’s more, several of the same factors that caused problems with holiday shipping last year — including extreme weather conditions, a shorter-than-usual holiday shopping window and a surge in ecommerce sales volume — are likely to affect shipping this year, too.
The USPS is already partnering with Amazon.com to handle Sunday deliveries, but the expanded offering will help online retailers who sell via other channels. Seven-day-a-week shipping will start November 17 and continue through Christmas Day (yes, the USPS will even deliver on December 25).
To help prepare for extreme weather events, the USPS has five meteorologists on staff. Businesses can get real-time service alerts about how weather is affecting business shipping on the USPS website.
The USPS expects to handle 450 million to 470 million packages this holiday season — an increase of 12 percent over last year when it offered seven-day delivery in its busiest markets in December. It even delivered 75,000 packages on Christmas Day.
Also, good news for any Internet retailer seeking to keep costs down (and who isn’t?): The USPS recently lowered Priority Mail rates, making it an excellent option for businesses this holiday season.
To take advantage of seven-day delivery and ensure your customers get their holiday packages on time, it’s crucial to be aware of key shipping dates and communicate them to your customers on an ongoing basis. Clearly posting order deadlines on your website’s home page, on checkout pages and even sending email reminders as urgent deadlines approach will help your customers avoid disappointment.
Here are the USPS’s shipping deadlines for customers to receive packages by December 25:
December 2 — First-Class International or Priority Mail International
December 10 — Priority Mail Express International
December 15 — Standard Post
December 17 — Global Express Guaranteed
December 20 — Domestic First-class or Priority Mail
December 23 — Domestic Express Priority Mail
Also, keep in mind that December 18 — Free Shipping Day — is expected to be the Postal Service’s busiest day of the year.
Delivering a high-quality product at a reasonable price is not enough anymore.
That’s why we have developed 5 beneficial guarantees that will make your experience with our service enjoyable, easy, and safe.
You have to be 100% sure of the quality of your product to give a money-back guarantee. This describes us perfectly. Make sure that this guarantee is totally transparent.
Read moreEach paper is composed from scratch, according to your instructions. It is then checked by our plagiarism-detection software. There is no gap where plagiarism could squeeze in.
Read moreThanks to our free revisions, there is no way for you to be unsatisfied. We will work on your paper until you are completely happy with the result.
Read moreYour email is safe, as we store it according to international data protection rules. Your bank details are secure, as we use only reliable payment systems.
Read moreBy sending us your money, you buy the service we provide. Check out our terms and conditions if you prefer business talks to be laid out in official language.
Read more