Shipping

You Too Can Offer Free Shipping
June 2, 2011

Consumers and carriers are squeezing e-tailers: customers expect free shipping and carriers keep raising prices. Residential shipping costs are skyrocketing out of control. What’s a shipper to do?

Newegg to Offer Will-Call Pickup Services
May 23, 2011

Newegg Inc., the largest tech-focused pure-play online retailer, announced the official opening of its first-ever "Will-Call" pickup location. Customers of Newegg.com and NeweggBusiness in the Los Angeles area now have the opportunity to save time and money by ordering online and then picking up their orders directly from the Newegg warehouse.

Gilt Groupe Offers Flat-Rate Shipping
May 17, 2011

Good news for Gilt shoppers — effective immediately, shipping will be reduced to a flat fee of $5.95 for UPS ground shipping no matter the size of the purchase. Returns can also now be made via a USPS mailbox or a UPS drop-off location.

Meijer Launches Ship-to-Store Program
April 29, 2011

Meijer is the latest retailer to offer free shipping for purchases made on its e-commerce site that are to be picked up at one of its 195 Midwest stores. “Order-to-Store” merges online and in-store shopping, the retailer said in a statement announcing the new program.

USPS Announces New Regional Ground Service for Commercial Shippers
April 25, 2011

Commercial shippers seeking an economical solution for delivery of small packages now have a new service available from the U.S. Postal Service. Introduced April 17, Parcel Select Regional Ground offers competitive pricing for high-volume business-to-consumer shippers.

Retail Container Traffic Expected to Rise in April
April 12, 2011

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to be up 9 percent in April over the same month last year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

PRC Issues Advisory Opinion on Ending Saturday Mail Delivery
March 25, 2011

The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) issued its Advisory Opinion on a Postal Service plan to end Saturday mail delivery, collection and outbound mail processing. The Postal Service is required to ask the Commission for an Advisory Opinion on any change in nationwide service it proposes. The Postal Service advised the Commission that due to falling mail volumes and revenues it is considering eliminating Saturday mail collection and delivery except for Express Mail and existing post office box service.

L.L.Bean Permanently Offering Free Shipping
March 24, 2011

L.L.Bean will implement free standard shipping to all United States and Canadian addresses effective March 25. L.L.Bean introduced the concept of free shipping in 1912 by adding “post paid” in catalog copy. As L.L.Bean nears its 100th anniversary, the tradition of free shipping returns.

Auction Sellers Hit Hard by New eBay Fee
March 21, 2011

eBay's changes to its fee structure will have a big impact on auction sellers — and they only have one month from the time of the announcement to adjust their auction-selling strategies. eBay will begin including shipping and handling costs into its Final Value Fees.