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A Close Up Look at gopost

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The gopost parcel lockers appear all but ready for live customer tests. Viewing one in person clearly showed to me how a customer thinking of using a gopost would interact and how it would work for both able and disabled individualsm, as well as adults of a full range of heights. What a Customer First Sees A customer interested in using gopost will have no trouble finding it.  The bright red and blue colors make it stand out, just like Redbox and Blockbuster kiosks do.    The use of color focuses the consumers attention right where they have to go, the center console. Given that it is both bright red and stands out a [...] Read more »

Why Mail Matters: It Drove the Decline of Newt Gingrich in Iowa

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The New York Times today has a wonderful story about the role that mail played in driving the decline of Newt Gingrich’s poll numbers in Iowa.  While the article quotes a Republican activist that is not persuaded, it is hard to imagine how the average voter is not affected by wave after wave of print ads painting a negative picture of Newt Gingrich sent by Mitt Romney and super PAC’s that support him.    The decision makers in these campaigns know that the “mail moment” that a postcard advertisement creates grabs a voter’s attention more fully than any web, television or radio advertisement could possibly do. Here is an excerpts that [...] Read more »

gopost Nearly Ready To Go Live

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Since December 6, the Postal Service has installed six gopost parcel lockers in Northern Virginia and tested both the hardware and software.   Now the Postal Service has quietly launched the gopost web page in anticipation of the formal public introduction in mid-January.  Given the interest in gopost among the readers of this blog, I took advantage of light Northern Virginia traffic on Christmas to visit all six sites.   These sites illustrated the breadth of possible installations the Postal Service may use and how these parcel lockers will integrate with the Postal Service’s on-line and, possibly, its mobile presence.  [For an in depth look at a gopost parcel locker see: A Close Up Look at [...] Read more »

Verizon Credit Card Charge Creates Impetus for Paying Bills By Mail

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Note: Since this post was originally written, Verizon has recinded its decision to add this payment surcharge.    See Reuters story for the details. In many ways, Verizon’s action is not much different from what happens in the Airline industry when one airline proposes a price change and waits to see if others follow.   If none do, the increase is quickly recinded.   The point made in this post is still true, Verizon wanted the surcharge so that it could charge less credit-worthy customers more than its customers with a more secure financial position.  [Note added 12/30/2011 at 7:57] The Huffington Post reports today that Verizon will be charging its customers $2 if [...] Read more »

USPS Puts gopost Website Up

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The Postal Service has put up a placeholder for the gopost log-in page.    This is what the body of the page now looks like.  It looks like their marketing campaign promoting gopost will follow what DHL did in Germany and focus on getting missed packages.  If you are interested in seeing what installations of gopost parcel lockers look like read   gopost Nearly Ready to Go Live  For a close up look at a gopost parcel locker read “A Close Up Look at goPost.” Tweet Read more »

United Parcel Service Delivery Failures Raise Questions About its Readiness for e-commerce.

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In December this holiday season, United Parcel Service just wrote the advertising campaigns for both FedEx and the United States Postal Service. Both competitors can go to potential e-commerce shippers with a very simple slogan: “We deliver when you need us most.” United Parcel Service’s problems were bad enough to cause the Denver Post editorial board to comment. While Federal Express and the U.S. Postal Service were able to get their packages delivered before Christmas without significant incident or complaint, the same can’t be said for UPS. On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of people stood in line at the UPS customer service center in Commerce City hoping to retrieve gifts, medication [...] Read more »

25 Predictions for the U.S. Courier, Express and Postal Market for 2012

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With the end of the year at hand, the Courier Express and Postal Observer brings out its crystal ball and makes its predictions for 2012.  As with all forecasts made on this website, the predictions are for entertainment purposes only, they are not designed to encourage illegal betting on the future of the industry. Labor Agreements Both the National Association of Letter Carriers and the Mailhandlers will sign new agreements by the end of March. Some provisions of the agreement may depend on Congressional action. Within a month of signing the agreement, the House of Representatives will hold a hearing berating Postal Service Management and the Board of Governors for signing giveaways to postal [...] Read more »

House Passage of HR 2309 Likely in 2012

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In his incendiary tweets last week, Chairman Darrell Issa laid out a marker on postal reform. He will not step back from championing H.R. 2309, the Postal Reform Act of 2011, which faces some challenges in the House and no future in the Senate. Why is he being stubborn? Chairman Issa knows that his ability to influence the future of postal reform requires that he ensure that he can hold a majority of the Republican caucus behind his approach. From the beginning, he and Congressman Dennis Ross have used language supporting their bills that hit the hot-button Republican talking points. In particular, these talking points include opposition to: government spending, [...] Read more »

The Political Impact of Tweets from Representatives Issa and Ross

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In a series of tweets today (see below), House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa repeated the assertion that Postmaster Pat Donahoe “folded like a cheap suit” when he “caved to political pressure just as it was making long-overdue rightsizing decisions.” This follows Representative Dennis Ross’s suggestion that the Postmaster General may need to be replaced. As Dead Tree Edition, the Postalnews.com blog and this blog have all shown, their statements reflect politics and not policy. Even with “caving to political pressure,” the Postal Service’s network realignment would happen a year or two earlier than it would if the President signed the House bill today. So why would [...] Read more »

Happy Hanukkah

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chanukah

Enjoy the info graphics on Hanukkah, one of the oddest holidays in the Jewish calendar.   It is not mentioned in the old testament, and the only historical record is included in the New Testament.   Discussion in the Talmud is nearly as sparse as the length of time Hanukkah candles burn.   Finally, its significance in Jewish life blossomed with the emancipation of Jews in Europe and the freedoms that European immigrants found in Canada and the United States as they sought to maintain their identity swimming like a fish in a small school, swimming one direction while all other schools of fish swim in another between Thanksgiving and New Years. via   Tweet Read more »