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E-Commerce's Biggest Obstacle May Be Slow Postal Services (thestreet.com)
Long-time Slashdot reader rudy_wayne writes:
J.C. Penney CEO Marvin Ellison recently said that e-commerce companies' biggest challenge is that they are all expanding their businesses and pushing for faster delivery, but UPS, Fedex and especially the United States Postal Service aren't able to keep up, at least not at same cost that exists today, because they're not increasing their delivery capacity at the same rate e-commerce is growing, He said this will cause a supply and demand issue "that's going to be apparent here pretty soon."
The 3-generation pension thing is a myth. They are simply required to fund the benefits that they promise existing workers given standard actuarial tables which estimate lifetime. I would like this rule extended to the entire government, as we are sitting on a liability time bomb. My beef with the treatment of the USPS is I don't think congress phased in the new rules slowly enough for the business to adjust - but no matter what it was going to be traumatic.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
The economy has benefited hugely from a reliable flat-fee mail delivery system. Like many taken-for-granted benefits we enjoy I didn't realize that until I did some consulting work for a company operating in a part of the world with a unreliable postal system
We bought something at Sears the other day (shocking, I know) and they had redone their pickup area with a computer to scan the email barcode and a timer would start where the person had 5 minutes to bring the package out (she took 2). I was pretty impressed versus the first (and last) time I tried to do this at Best Buy where the item was not ready for pickup, despite the email stating it was, and they had to run around and ended up finding an open box item of similar type they discounted further in recompense. It would have been faster and as accurate to give my children a sketch of the item in crayon and send them wandering throughout the store. They'll probably go out of business anyway but the way Sears did it was the best I've seen so far.
I don't know why it is, but many of the companies that I buy stuff from over the Internet assume automatically that I want it delivered "tomorrow" or within 3 days at the most. If I needed stuff that fast, I would go to the store and buy it there, or I would have bought it all a month ago in preparation for what I am doing today.
So when I buy stuff over the Internet, it usually doesn't matter when it comes and I prefer that they ship it by Canada Post, or USPS, or the Royal Mail, whatever. I am not in a hurry and surface mail is just fine. We get very good mail delivery where I live and if a parcel is too big for my box then I go to the Post Office to pick it up, knowing that it is safe and secure.
What really bugs me is having to deal with the so-called courier companies who invariably come while I am not at home and leave stuff on the porch or leave a notice on my doorknob. They say they will "attempt delivery" again tomorrow but, No, no one comes even though I have made a point of staying at home, alert to the driveway and door. Then I end up having to drive all the way into the city to pick up my parcel at the courier's office anyway. Give me the Post Office any day!
Let those who need 72-hour delivery pay extra for it and leave me alone with much cheaper shipping charges and delivery within two or three weeks. I am fine with that.
It's amazing the USPS is as good as it is, all things considered.
Absolutely, everyone like to pick on the USPS but if you were to say to someone who didn't know what the USPS was that one could stick a piece of paper in a envelope and legibly (or not) write an address on it and stick it in a nondescript looking box outside your home with only a little red flag to alert someone of your intentions and have it picked up and delivered anywhere in the U.S. usually within a couple of days and at the most a week to another nondescript box which may (or may not) have said legible address on it for all of $.50 they would call you crazy.