4. RETAIL ACCESS: REACHING THE CUSTOMER
Today’s society demands the convenience of one-stop shopping solutions. In response, the Postal Service is making strides to develop convenient alternatives to Post Offices that assist the customer with their mailing needs. Instead of requiring customers to come to us, the Postal Service will instead serve them where they live, work and shop. This means moving from a brick and mortar strategy to one that integrates our physical branch network into a flexible set of customer contact options (e.g., on the Internet, through letter carriers, through partnerships, through other nonpostal retail outlets, etc.).
Contract postal units (CPUs) and other commercial agents and partners allow the Postal Service to reach customers at times when Post Offices are deemed inconvenient or are closed. Typical locations for these units are shopping centers, local malls, and other locations that customers may frequent. Extended evening, weekend, and holiday hours of these facilities provide Postal Service customers with the utmost convenience. Our research tells us that customers prefer to combine errands at one location. The Postal Service will, therefore, be targeting grocery store chains and convenience stores as potential full- or limited-service contract units.
Similar to CPUs, new services are being developed to implement basic mailing services, First-Class Mail and Priority Mail under 20 pounds, into additional retail store locations. This will not only give postal customers more access channels to postal services, but it will provide them with those services at Post Office prices.
The development of mapping and functional analysis tools has significantly aided in finding optimum locations for the alternative access channels listed above. Mapping allows the Postal Service to analyze specific areas of the country, and make customer-focused determinations for the placement of CPUs and other new services.
As ever, the Postal Service will continue its convenient Stamps on Consignment program, which makes stamps available through participating retailers such as supermarkets, drug, convenience store as well as ATM’s though many financial institutions. Other alternatives include Stamps by Mail, which is being revamped for added convenience, the Postal Store at www.usps.com and Stamps by Mail at 1-800-STAMP-24.
