Endicia Praises USPS for its E-Commerce Initiative

Shippers concerned that they will have fewer express transport options once the United States Postal Service (USPS) ceases Saturday deliveries have nothing to fear, said Amine Khechfe, Endicia co-founder and general manager.

“Given the increased projections of ecommerce overall, we expect the parcel shipping segment to continue to grow,” he said. “To support this growth, USPS plans to continue delivering packages on Saturdays, without the surcharges typically tagged on by the private carriers.”

In an interview with Supply Chain Management Review—a sister publication—Khechfe said he recently met with Patrick R. Donahoe, Postmaster General and CEO, who told him that USPS was moving its concentration from letters to parcels as part of an ongoing strategy to recover its loses and be placed on a positive revenue position.

“Clearly, with this announcement, USPS is putting money where its mouth is,” said Khechfe.

As reported here, the USPS has been keen on phasing out Saturday delivery for some time. Meanwhile, it has made significant strides on the package delivery side, which has seen a 14 percent volume increase going back to 2010. USPS officials noted that its projections of continued strong package growth over the next decade drove this revised approach to maintain package delivery six times per week.

Fiscal year 2012 shipping and package services business revenues for the USPS were up $926 million—or 8.7 percent—at $11.6 billion, and volumes were up 201 million pieces at a 6.6 percent annual growth clip. These services include Priority Mail, Express Mail, Parcel Select and Parcel Return services and account for 2.2 percent of total USPS volume and 17.8 percent of total revenue. USPS officials pointed to e-commerce fulfillment and last-mile services as drivers for its strong performance.

Given the vast USPS national network, Khechefe maintained that the bealegured government agency can “leverage its infrastructure” for maximum advantage.

“We see this as a top line move that shows real initiative in addressing problems that can’t be solved by Congress,” he said.