Changing and Improving.

Retail associate using Mobile Point of Sales (mPOS) to scan a package.

The Postal Service is continually enhancing its products and services to better meet customer needs and make it easier to do business with us.

In 2014, the Postal Service began piloting Mobile Point of Sales (mPOS), which is designed to reduce wait-time-in-line in Post Offices and improve the customer’s overall retail experience for routine transactions. Using a modified iPod hand-held device and a printer, this new technology enables lobby assistants to scan and accept pre-paid packages, scan package pickups as delivered or sell stamps, ReadyPost and other retail products. Retail associates also can use mPOS to sell Priority Mail flat-rate postage. With mPOS, lobby assistants can greet and assist many customers with simple transactions, allowing them to “swipe and go.”

Also in 2014, the Postal Service launched new Priority Mail service offerings with improved tracking, text alerts and expanded Sunday delivery. Each of these enhancements complements our existing free insurance, free tracking and date-specified delivery that were introduced last year.

Additionally, in light of today’s changing mail mix — declining letter mail and increasing package volume — as well as the increase in online ordering, the Postal Service has been working with Amazon to deliver packages to their stand-alone parcel lockers, which provide greater convenience and security for our customers. The lockers eliminate the need to leave packages outside customers’ residences, where they can be susceptible to the elements and to theft.