UPS today intensified its B2C growth strategy by unveiling a major expansion of its My Choiceservice and Access Point network for e-retailers and online shoppers in Europe and North
America.As CEP-Research already reported, the expansion includes the international rollout of deliveryinformation service My Choice and – in the opposite direction – the launch of Access Points,designed to improve delivery convenience and efficiency, in the USA through parcel shops andself-service parcel lockers.
UPS My Choice, launched in the USA in 2011, will become available to consumers in 15additional countries throughout North America and Europe. These are Austria, Belgium, Canada,Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Puerto Rico, Spain, Sweden,Switzerland and the UK.
UPS My Choice is a customisable online and mobile information service where consumers choosetheir delivery preferences, including delivery times and locations. More than 10 million USconsumers already use UPS My Choice to plan for their deliveries when and where it is convenientfor them, UPS said.
“UPS My Choice has received outstanding customer response and continues to experience rapidgrowth with one new consumer enrolment every six seconds,” said Alan Gershenhorn, UPS executivevice president and chief commercial officer. “Our mobile apps allow users to access UPS My Choicewith their smart phone in a streamlined manner and offer several delivery and shipping solutionsthat fit their needs.”
UPS My Choice members receive advance delivery notifications informing them of the deliverytiming of each UPS package. Consumers also have the ability to reroute eligible packages to anotheraddress or reschedule deliveries for a future date before a UPS driver makes a delivery. Consumerscan also activate a vacation setting to have packages held and delivered when they return home.
Unique to the UPS My Choice service, consumers only enroll one time and never need to provideadditional information to retailers or UPS to begin taking control of their UPS deliveries, thecompany pointed out.
“UPS My Choice and the UPS Access Point network are a powerful duo that give e-tailers newsolutions for personalising their customer’s package delivery experience,” Gershenhorn said. “UPSMy Choice status alerts have industry-leading e-mail open rates and are extremely valuable forretailers that want to extend special customer offers or communications in addition to the shipmentdelivery notification and confirmation. We have more than 375 shippers in the U.S. utilising thisfeature, including some of the most widely recognised names in retail.”
In parallel, UPS outlined its plans to “import” to the USA the Access Point network concept thatis already established in Europe. Currently, there are more than 12,000 UPS Access Point locationsin seven European countries. UPS said it expects to have 20,000 locations in key markets throughoutEurope and the Americas by the end of 2015.
UPS has already set up nearly 300 UPS Access Point locations in New York City and Chicago. These‘parcel shops’ are a mix of The UPS Store locations and other retailers such as convenience andgrocery stores where consumers can collect and drop off parcels. The stores earn a small amount perparcel and benefit from additional customer visits to their premises.
In January 2015, the Access Point network will then go nationwide across the USA by adding all4,400 The UPS Store franchise locations. The UPS Store outlets will retain their existing name. Inaddition, UPS will launch Access Point locations in Poland, Italy, Canada and Mexico in combinationwith the My Choice service later this month.
Explaining the reasons for launching the Access Point network in the USA, UPS said 37% of onlineshoppers that it recently surveyed wanted alternative delivery locations. The UPS Access Pointlocations are designed to be about 10 minutes or less from the consumer’s delivery address.
Under the service, UPS drivers, when unable to deliver a package at the consumer’s residence,will leave a note informing them when they can expect to collect their package at a nearby UPSAccess Point location. Consumers will go to www.ups.com and use the tracking number on the note to get theaddress. Consumers will need photo identification to receive their package.
In addition, UPS My Choice members will have the ability to send qualifying shipments directlyto a UPS Access Point location as their preferred delivery address. Consumers can also drop offpre-labelled and prepaid packages at a UPS Access Point location during the store’s hours.
Meanwhile, UPS is installing self-service smart parcel lockers in metropolitan Chicago on atrial basis. With government issued identification, or a mobile device, consumers can retrievetheir package from a locker in less time than it takes to withdraw cash from a cash machine, thecompany said. Moreover, UPS My Choice members can route their packages directly to these lockerswhen they will not be home to receive deliveries.
