Operations

US Postal Service expands next-day delivery service

The business-focused USPS Connect is also rolling out same-day local delivery in some areas.

US Postal Service expands next-day delivery service
white and blue van on road during daytime

Next-day delivery is the focus of a new initiative from the US Postal Service that aims to serve businesses.

The nation’s postal service on Tuesday is rolling out USPS Connect, a series of four delivery services that it is putting in place as it introduces new equipment, pricing and operations improvements.

“We’ve listened carefully to our business customers to develop this program,” said Jakki Krage Strako, chief commerce and business solutions officer, in a statement. “We’re increasing next-day deliveries. We’re also giving smaller businesses big-business rates and all businesses more user-friendly ways to interact with us.”

Here’s a look at the services offered:

  • USPS Connect Local is aimed at businesses seeking to reach local customers. It’s offering next-day service in all locations. In select locations, it will offer same-day delivery, Sunday delivery and pickup options.
  • USPS Connect Regional provides next-day regional entry and delivery of Parcel Select packages and Parcel Select Lightweight packages. “Most packages will be delivered the next day within a broad specified region,” USPS states, but it is advised to consult with USPS for more info.
  • USPS Connect National is providing delivery solutions for all types of businesses, withnew mail processing equipment and a reconfigured network. Delivery options include USPS’ First-Class Package Service, Parcel Select Ground and Retail Ground.
  • USPS Connect Returns aims to allow businesses to offer convenient returns for customers, with the option to have a returned package picked up by a carrier or dropped off at a post office.

The new initiatives come as the volume of packages has increased dramatically in the last two years. With the growth of ecommerce has come more businesses shipping goods. After growth of about 1 billion parcels each year from 2015-2019, the total number of parcels shipped grew from 15 billion-20 billion from 2019-2020, according to data from the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index. With this, USPS generated a 40% increase in parcel revenue growth year-over-year, Pitney Bowes found.

At the same time, customers are increasingly accustomed to the speedy delivery offered by services like Amazon, which has set up its own fulfillment and delivery network to get packages to customers in less than a day in many cases. This has led retailers to make moves toward same-day-delivery. In a December survey by Bringg, 99% of retailers said they expect to implement it within the next three years, according to Multichannel Merchant. The latest announcement shows USPS adopting the language of services like Amazon to provide more peace of mind for customers.

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