The US Postal Service is predicting a 20 per cent surge in its Christmas package volumes this yearas more Americans shop online while FedEx is launching a shipping app for Facebook to target
younger consumers.With overall US retail spending forecast to grow about 4 per cent for the 2012 festiveseason, the main growth driver for parcel companies will again be online shopping which is forecastto grow nearly 17 per cent over the same period, according to US associations and researchers.
The US Postal Service said yesterday that it expects to deliver some 365 million packages forChristmas and nearly 18 billion cards, letters and packages in total between Thanksgiving and NewYear’s Eve. The busiest mailing day for holiday cards/packages is Monday, Dec. 17, when more than655 million pieces of mail are expected to be processed compared to 538 on an average day. Thebusiest delivery day for letters will be Wednesday, Dec. 19 and the busiest day for packages willbe Thursday, Dec. 20.
USPS expects more than one million visitors a day to usps.com between Thanksgiving and NewYear’s Eve, and nearly 400,000 customers are expected to print shipping labels using Click-N-Shipon Monday, Dec. 19.
Patrick Donahoe, Postmaster General and chief executive officer, said: “This is one of themost exciting and busiest times of the year for the Postal Service, whether you’re sending aholiday card to Kentucky or military care package to Afghanistan, our employees do what it takes toprocess and deliver every single one.”
USPS is promoting its festive season offerings with its largest-ever direct mailing to target140 million residences across the country. The mailing includes information about usps.com/cheer, anew dedicated holiday website where customers can print shipping labels, order free Priority Mailboxes, purchase postage and request a free package pickup. For most packages, consumers can enterlabel numbers at usps.com and check delivery status with the Track and Confirm tool.
Nagisa Manabe, chief marketing officer and executive vice president, said: “We are excited tobring the Postal Service into every home across the country. With a QR code that can be scanned toaccess up-to-date information, this mailing is sure to make holiday shipping and mailing simplerthan ever before and help consumers manage this busy time of year.”
A 20 per cent rise in packages would see USPS outpacing the growth of UPS and FedEx whichhave predicted double-digit increases in holiday volumes this year. UPS said last month that itexpects to deliver 527 million packages worldwide between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, anincrease of about 10 per cent, while FedEx expects its worldwide holiday season volumes to increaseabout 13 per cent to 280 million packages this year.
Meanwhile, FedEx is going beyond e-commerce into social commerce with the launch of an appenabling Facebook users to ship parcels with the company directly from the world’s dominant socialmedia platform, which now has more than one billion users worldwide.
The FedEx ‘Ship to Friends’ app allows Facebook users to prepare and pay for a U.S. domesticshipment, including selecting their preferred service speed, paying by credit card and receiving alabel to print and attach to their package ready for dropoff at a FedEx shipping location.
The app also allows people to easily share information with friends to let them know aboutpackages they’ve shipped. Once a shipment is complete, people have the option to post to theirfriend’s timeline that they’re shipping a package to them and can include a customizedmessage. The app also provides a drop-down menu of Facebook friends to select from as therecipient of the package, making it even easier to ship a package quickly. The app isavailable on desktop as well as mobile devices.
“From the introduction of tracking numbers to mobile shipping solutions, FedEx has a longlegacy of industry-leading innovations that make the process of shipping and receiving simpler forour customers across the globe,” said Charlie Ciaramitaro, director of Marketing for FedExServices. “With FedEx Ship to Friends, we’re connecting with customers in the networks andcommunities they enjoy, while positioning our company to maximize the transition to socialcommerce.”
According to experts at Booz & Company, the market for social commerce, where people usesocial media such as Facebook to buy and sell goods, will soar to US$30 billion in just threeyears.
