USPS Expedites a New Shipping Service

eBay, Amazon and Walmart Stores have recently a new same-day service in selected cities. (eBay Now serves some of the Manhattan and Brooklyn areas of New York City. Amazon offers same day in many cities throughout the country, including Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas, and Washington, DC. Walmart To Go is covering Chicago and San Jose/San Francisco.) Now a new company has thrown its hat into the same-day shipping ring, the United States Postal Service.

As you may know, the USPS has been dealing with mounting losses for years. This move may help to rebuild the USPS as a viable player in the delivery/eCommerce services market. The new service, called Metro Post, is slated to begin testing in the San Francisco market on December 12. For a fee of $10, the USPS will deliver purchases in that area from major retailers the USPS has partnered with. At this time, there is no list of retail partners available. That will be announced closer to the December 12 launch date.

According to the documents the USPS filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission, here is how the program will work:

Through this market test, buyers can request same-day delivery in one of three ways: 1) utilizing a qualifying online e-commerce platform to purchase items online; 2) purchasing items at the retail stores that have partnered with test participants; or 3) visiting a test participant’s website to purchase items. Eligible buyers must live in a specified area within a selected major metropolitan area.

The daily cut-off times for making any purchases of items delivered via Metro Post service will occur between 2:00pm and 3:00pm. Package pick-up will then be scheduled to take place at participating locations after 3:00pm, by Postal Service-uniformed delivery personnel. The Metro Post packages may be exchanged between agents, and dynamic routing tools will be used, in order to ensure efficient delivery; at this time, the logistics have not been finalized. Same-day delivery will occur between approximately 4:00pm and 8:00pm, as determined by the Postal Service.

The USPS is projecting that it will earn between $10 million and $50 million in new revenue in the San Francisco area alone. If the test is successful, the USPS plans to roll Metro Post out to 10 other large cities and believes it would increase its earnings to $500 million with the expansion.

This could be the program to help rebuild the financially struggling USPS. Last week, it reported a $15.9 billion annual loss for the last fiscal year. It will not resolve the entire budget issue but it could be a profitable move.

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eBay Offers (Almost) Instant Gratification to Some Buyers

Image courtesy of TheOnlineSeller.com

A few lucky eBay buyers have received an invitation for a new program from eBay. eBay Now was just launched to beta testers in the San Francisco, California area. eBay Now will allow eBay buyers to receive your purchases the same day the order is placed.

eBay buyers received an e-mail that sent them an invitation to download a mobile app that will connect them to the eBay now program. Those users will be able to buy new products sold by local stores. The stores include Toys R Us, Target, Walgreens, and many others. Once the buyer finds the item they wish to purchase, they click as the “Bring It” button. In an hour or more, a personal shopping valet will deliver the purchase to the buyer. Currently, there is a $25.00 minimum for purchases. eBay is offering the beta testers who currently have access to the program $15.00 off their first eBay order and no delivery fee for the first three orders. After the first three orders, the delivery fee is a $5.00 charge. Here’s a copy of the email that was sent to the invited buyers:

Hi [Name],

We know you love shopping on eBay. But sometimes you just can’t wait for shipping. Sound familiar?

If so, we’ve created an exciting new way to shop. Starting today, for purchases of $25 or more, San Francisco shoppers can order products from local stores and have them delivered to their door — at home, at work, or anywhere else in San Francisco. The new service is called eBay Now, and you can download it here for your iPhone®, iPad®, or iPod® touch.

Since eBay Now is in beta, we’re taking $15 off your first order and offering FREE delivery for your first three! After that, each delivery during the beta period is only $5. Your orders arrive fast — usually within an hour! Pretty convenient, huh?

Download the app now [link removed] and try it out. If you like it, share it!

You have three invites for friends and family.

Happy shopping!
The eBay Now Team

The eBay Now service is available Monday through Saturday from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM and Sunday from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The items can be delivered in as little as an hour but the store from which the item was purchased must be open for at least 30 minutes after the order is received. Here are a couple of screen shots that show what the app looks like on the iPhone.


Image courtesy of TechCrunch


In order to make this possible, eBay is using its Milo platform. Milo is a website that allows its users to search for a particular item and find out which nearby stores carry it. It also lets the website user know if the item is in stock and how much the item costs. eBay purchased Milo in late 2010 for $75 million.

This new service is in line to go the head to head with Amazon’s Same Day Shipping program that is currently in development for major cities across the country. While eBay Now is only offered to San Francisco area residents right now, anyone can sign up. Please click this link to be notified of when eBay Now will be available in your area. eBay will be using these registrations to determine if there is any interest in expanding this program throughout the country in future.

What impact will this service have on eBay Sellers? Will eBay’s marketplace become dominated by big-time retailers? Will the availability of new products and quick shipping impact Amazon's FBA business model? At this point, it’s a guessing game. What do you think? What impact do you think this will have on your business? Feel free to comment below to share your views.

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Amazon.com Rolls Out its Locker Service to the Nation’s Capitol

 

Image courtesy of Zatznotfunny.com 

To help its customers receive its packages, Amazon has its Locker Delivery Service. With this service, customers can choose to have his or her order delivered to a locker location instead of their home or office. The service, which was originally offered in Seattle, New York, and London, is now available in Washington, DC, as well. The DC area lockers are being placed in 7-11 convenience store locations throughout the Northern Virginia area.

With this offering, a customer in the serviced areas can choose to have the package sent to a locker location during the checkout process. Once the package has been delivered to a locker location, an email confirmation is sent to the customer. That email will include a pick-up code that is unique to that particular order. When at the locker location, the customer will enter the pick-up code on the locker’s touch screen and the particular locker that holds the package will open. The customer has three days to pick up the package or the order will be returned to Amazon and the customer will receive a full refund.

Below is a video of this service in action. (This video was taken during the pilot phase of the program in October 2011.)




As a seller, you may want to know what items are eligible for locker delivery. Here are the requirements:

       1. The item must be sold or fulfilled by Amazon.com
       2. It must have product dimensions smaller than 11.8 x 11.8 x 11.8 inches
       3. The item must have a shipping weight that is less than 10 lbs, and
       4. The order cannot require special handling.

The shipping speed for the package will vary based on the locker’s capacity and the number of orders scheduled for delivery time frame. For details on the service, click here.

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