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Mon Sept 29 2014 22:07:06

Should the USPS Do More to Tap into Ecommerce?

By: Ina Steiner

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In Tuesday's Newsflash newsletter, we report on how the Australian postal service is tapping into ecommerce to boost cross border trade with China. Australia Post signed a deal with Alibaba Group to set up a store on Tmall, its B2C marketplace for Chinese shoppers.

The Australia Post storefront on Tmall lets even small companies begin selling to China.

Postal services around the world are exploring ways to make up for falling revenue from letter mail. Here in the U.S., the USPS is working closely with Amazon on several initiatives, it's trying delivery lockers (GoPost) and same-day delivery (MetroPost).

Should it too try setting up a shop on Tmall for small U.S. businesses that don't have a brand big enough to attract Tmall shoppers but might find shoppers under the USPS umbrella?

Let us know what you think, and if you'd consider participating in such a program to get greater exposure for your products.



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Perminate Link for Should the USPS Do More to Tap into Ecommerce?   Should the USPS Do More to Tap into Ecommerce?

by: FLIPPER This user has validated their user name.

Mon Sep 29 22:50:54 2014

Short answer ''Yes'' and I've got some pretty good ideas that would benefit not only the postal service , but Ebay and Amazon as well. But, hey, why would I want to help Donahue et al. especially if I'm not getting paid for the suggestion.  

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by: val2525 This user has validated their user name.

Mon Sep 29 23:42:03 2014

Yes.  First off, toss the SmartPost deal with Fed Ex.  My retail website purchases take twice as long in transit using SmartPost than they did when shipped USPS, UPS or FedEx directly.

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This user has validated their user name. by: Tula

Tue Sep 30 13:11:35 2014

That's an intriguing idea. I've said for years that Ebay should make more efforts to help its sellers sell overseas to places like China. It's a huge market and Ebay could do so much to help buyers gain exposure to other countries, but unfortunately, they seem to be more focused on import rather than export. It's a shame, since this is something they could do that would really differentiate them from other venues.

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by: Massachusets Howler This user has validated their user name.

Thu Oct 2 08:13:38 2014

They couldn't sell a flytrap to an African sheepherder.

The US Post Office does not know if they are a for-profit or a government agency.

SMILING and starting to be CONSISTENTLY polite would be a good start.

I would also like postmasters to discipline their workers away from the counter- they do not need to be humiliated in front of customers.

Delivery boxes are often too small and are filled at my post office.

The 24 hour kiosk appears broken on a regular basis- it takes your cash and the label gets stuck inside the machine- our postmaster is UPSET at me but as a seller- I need the tracking number- she doesn't understand.

The post office has a lot of problems. They need to figure out what they want to be.

Remember that Postal guy not long ago, chiming in? He was from Mars and that is the problem. That guy should work for JD but the Post Office is blessed with him.
MH
Fear Wenig.

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This user has validated their user name. by: elpereles

Sat Oct 11 00:20:54 2014

Like some people commented in other forums and sites. Also the USPS needs to move the money order beyond the traditional paper. Maybe some Paypal/Western union hybrid.  



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