24-10-2019

UPS (NYSE:UPS) today unveiled its strategy to make industry-leading logistics services more broadly available through a series of strategic alliances and agreements called the UPS Digital Access Program.

As the retail industry continues to transform, UPS has prioritized e-commerce growth by enhancing its network and services to enable faster deliveries, enhanced visibility and a broader range of delivery options. With the UPS Digital Access Program, UPS is establishing preferred relationships with leading digital platforms to enhance various aspects of the e-commerce value stream. These platforms seamlessly provide discounted UPS shipping rates and other shipping and logistics solutions to their merchant customers.

“By embedding UPS natively into popular e-commerce platforms, merchants will get the breadth and reliability of UPS’s services to more than 220 countries and territories,” said Kevin Warren, Chief Marketing Officer at UPS. “More small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) will now have access to UPS, helping them offer industry-leading delivery commitments and leveling the highly competitive e-commerce playing field.”

Online business-to-business and business-to-consumer transaction growth shows no signs of abating. eMarketer estimates global e-commerce gross merchandise value will grow from $3.5 trillion today to $6.5 trillion by 2023. This has a tremendous impact on the shipping industry due to package volume growth while driving the digitization of the entire e-commerce value stream, from inventory procurement to order management, delivery and returns.

The UPS Digital Access Program helps e-commerce platforms provide a comprehensive suite of order management, fulfilment and delivery services to simplify logistics complexity. This gives SMBs the opportunity to provide the same high-quality customer experience as large e-commerce companies.

As part of the Digital Access Program, UPS has signed an agreement with Stamps.com (NASDAQ: STMP), the leading provider of e-commerce shipping software, to offer discounted shipping rates to Stamps.com’s customer base of more than 740,000. Stamps.com offers a portfolio of Internet shipping software solutions under the brand names ShipStation, ShippingEasy, ShipWorks, Stamps.com and Endicia. These solutions help small and medium-sized e-commerce businesses run their shipping operations more smoothly and successfully. With the Digital Access Program, Stamps.com customers now have the option to easily access UPS’s shipping services at discounted rates.

The UPS Digital Access Program also includes additional collaborations with leading e-commerce companies that specialize in demand generation, order management, web store hosting, shipping and returns.

“This program demonstrates UPS’s commitment to the platform movement, which extends from demand generation and fulfillment to shipping and returns,” said Warren. “We aspire to broaden our reach by continuing to innovate and collaborate with additional leading platform providers that touch all aspects of the e-commerce ecosystem.”

Source: UPS