How to track packages in real-time in order to save time and make customers happier.
January 11, 2024
Your Shop Local Store has a new feature: You (and your customers) can now easily see real-time shipping status for an order. Your Store displays the current shipping status (in transit, delivered, etc.) and the complete tracking history for the order.
Before this update, one had to view the shipping service’s website (e.g FedEx.com) to view its status. Now, you or shoppers can view all orders' real-time status on your Shop Local Store and in emails.
Amazon and third-party delivery services have setup a “warehouse” outside the Astor Place USPS office. This is not a truck parking for five minutes. This a day-long, everyday occurrence. I’ve seen this same scene on a daily basis all around the city for the last three years.
This hurts local retailers. While the local businesses pay extra taxes to operate a store in southern Manhattan, it costs Amazon much less to park a delivery truck (permanently?), put ...
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Alec MacGillis shares in the Times how online shopping and Amazon in particular are wrecking havoc on retail.
Highlights:
Nationwide, 9,800 stores shuttered in 2019, among them 220 Sears stores.
Analysts predict that brick-and-mortar store closures could reach 25,000 by year’s end.
J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus and J. Crew filed for bankruptcy, Macy’s furloughed nearly all of its 125,000 workers for months, and countless independent businesses have closed for good.
In just 8 years, the number of packages shipped has grown 150%. That has significant implications for small businesses, the e-commerce industry, air pollution, tree harvesting, and other areas of our lives.
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December 4, 2018
December 4, 2018
Good news for small retailers: Amazon will pay 9% - 12% more to ship packages in 2019--and a new commission's report suggests it pay even more, reports today's WSJ.
Excerpt: The Postal Service faces significant financial challenges. It has been losing money for more than a decade and is on an unsustainable path, the report says. The USPS is forecast to lose tens of billions of dollars over the next decade and currently has $89 billion in liabilities versus $27 billion in assets, for a net ...
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June 21, 2018
June 21, 2018
Amazon has about 100 lobbyists in DC and spent $13 million on lobbying, reports today’s WSJ. Amazon increasingly relies on the government for business contracts and to provide shipping via USPS. If the USPS raised its prices $1, it would cost Amazon about $1.8 billion.
Considering this information, it starts to make sense why Amazon owner Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post newspaper.
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April 5, 2018
April 5, 2018
Why is there a secrecy clause to hide the USPS deal with amazon? Strange. I’d like to see the deal tax payers are giving billionaire Jeff Bezos.
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December 30, 2017
December 30, 2017
Is the Post Office—and your tax dollars—subsidizing Amazon? Trump and many people think so.
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January 1, 2015
January 1, 2015
Fedex and UPS prices are increasing in 2015. The new pricing model takes into account the size of the box shipped instead of just the weight. For example, to ship a women's shoulder bag may cost 40% more to ship.
How does this affect retailers? One may wish to reduce package sizes and consider using USPS instead. This may also help slow Amazon's encroachment on Main Street, mom & pop stores. However, some people think it will giv Amazon an additional advantage.