Shipping

Peak and Demand Surcharge Considerations for Your Holiday Shipping Matrix
September 26, 2023 at 1:00 pm

The United States Postal Service (USPS) will not raise pricing by applying a peak season surcharge this holiday season. Wait, what? 2023 will be the fourth peak season since COVID temporarily forced volume surges on the package carriers, and the carriers forced “peak” surcharges on the shipping public. This year, however, the USPS is making…

US Postal Service Won't Institute a Holiday Season Surcharge
September 21, 2023 at 4:43 pm

The U.S. Postal Service, fresh off several consecutive significant price hikes, will not include a surcharge this peak season for mailers and shippers sending items during the holidays. The announcement marks a departure from recent USPS strategy, which has increased its prices between early October and mid-January for the last few years. Postal management pointed…

Amazon’s Reduced Packaging Plans Open Pandora’s Box
September 18, 2023 at 12:04 pm

While Amazon.com's impact on e-commerce is sizable, arguably one of the most impressive parts of the company has less to do with selling products and more about delivering them. In 2014, the company had a 0 percent logistics market share. As reported by Axios in 2020, just six years later, Amazon’s logistics arm overtook FedEx…

The Power of Shipping in the Age of Personalization
September 7, 2023 at 12:53 pm

In a world where customer experience (CX) is paramount, harnessing the power of personalized shipping can be a game-changer for retailers seeking to create lasting customer relationships. Today’s online shoppers consider the shipping experience to be a key component of their CX, with 90 percent of respondents stating that it accounts for at least half…

Walmart, Wing Team Up to Provide Drone Delivery
August 28, 2023 at 4:32 pm

Walmart announced last week that it's teaming up with Wing, an on-demand drone delivery provider powered by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, to offer drone delivery from two stores in the Dallas metro area in the coming months. The move will enable the retail giant to deliver products to an additional 60,000 homes in under 30…

5 Key Questions Brands Should Ask Before Signing a 3PL for Fulfillment This Peak Season
August 23, 2023 at 1:03 pm

While holiday shopping sprees are still months away, it’s prime time for brands to evaluate their fulfillment needs. Whether a brand is in the market for a new third-party logistics (3PL) partner or plans to bring on additional fulfillment support to manage peak season, it’s critical they conduct their due diligence now. Before diving head…

Amazon Resumes Third-Party Shipping Service
August 21, 2023 at 5:40 pm

Amazon.com has revived its shipping service, paused during COVID-19's onset, competing with FedEx and UPS. Amazon Shipping lets sellers ship Amazon and external platform orders. Businesses must sell on Amazon to be eligible for the service. Amazon already provides shipping to merchants who use its storage and delivery service, Fulfillment by Amazon. Amazon Shipping allows…

Shipping Options Are the Name of the Game for Online Shoppers and Merchants
August 1, 2023 at 5:40 pm

If we can agree that Nike has done a decent job with checkout optimization, then we can agree on the lessons to be learned from what it has done with checkout. But there's more to the story than just sleek designs and fancy shoes. It's all about the power of choice! A couple of mind-boggling…

Amazon Boasts its 'Delivering at the Fastest Speed Ever'
July 31, 2023 at 6:11 pm

Amazon.com is delivering its largest selection of products to U.S. Prime members at the fastest speeds ever, according to a blog posted yesterday by Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores. "With more than 300 million items available with free Prime shipping and tens of millions of the most popular items available with free same-day or…

UPS, Teamsters Reach Labor Deal to Avoid Strike
July 25, 2023 at 3:28 pm

UPS and the Teamsters union representing about 340,000 workers at the package carrier on Tuesday said they reached a preliminary labor deal that includes raises for both full- and part-time workers and narrowly avoids a potential strike that could have started next week. The agreement is worth $30 billion, according to Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien. Workers…