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Build Customer Awareness of New Forms of Access

Major efforts have been made to make mail services quick, easy, and convenient, including the development of new ways for customers to obtain information and access postal services. Progress includes usps.com, the award-winning Web site, where customers can easily compare mailing options, print package labels with postage, schedule pickups, hold mail, and track shipments. Combined with a carrier coming to the home or office 6 days a week, this has been a major advance for time-starved customers. Customers can also purchase stamps in over 60,000 retail locations such as grocery stores, convenience stores, and ATMs. APCs have been installed in many Post Offices across the country, and now allow customers to mail on their own time, including evenings and weekends, when the retail counters are closed. The Postal Service's goal is to double the percent of retail transactions via alternate access channels to 40 percent by 2010.

Person using APC device
The APC features an integrated scale and easy-to-use touch-screen menu, making self-service mailing easier than ever. It was recognized with the "Best Retail Kiosk" award from the Kiosks.org Association, which represents the electronic self-service kiosk industry. KIOSK magazine said the APC has the potential to "do for the Post Office what ATM's did for banking."

Increasing awareness and use of these options is a high priority for the Postal Service. Many customers are unaware of all the ways and locations they can purchase postage stamps, not to mention all the other services that can now be completed quickly and easily right from their home or office. The Postal Service will expand on recent successful efforts to increase awareness. Advice and information about usps.com, Click-N-Ship, Carrier Pickup™, and other services will continue to be featured in advertising and communications. The 700,000 employees of the Postal Service, who know their customers best, will continue to spread the word as well.

To stay abreast of rising customer expectations, the Postal Service is committed to incorporating new features and technologies to further enhance customer access. It will pursue strategic alliances where partners can help speed development and/or reduce shared costs. It will continue to place special emphasis on enhancing online and self-service capabilities to further reach out to customers where they live, work, and shop.

Tailor Retail Improvements to Serve Customer Needs

Innovations such as Click-N-Ship and the APC build upon what is already America's most robust and ubiquitous retail network. Customers can now access many services online, with pick up and delivery to their door. But that does not mean that the services available at Post Offices will be reduced in any way. Customers with more complex needs will continue to find full service at Post Offices, with retail associates prepared to explain the full ranges of services available or offer advice on how best to use mail to grow a small business. Services will be streamlined and made more uniform from one location to the next, so customers can quickly and easily find the products that are right for them. The Postal Service made great strides simplifying forms and product information, and this work will continue in tandem with steps to simplify the product offerings themselves. The Postal Service will also continue to explore ways to better meet the needs of non-English speaking customers in Post Offices and on usps.com.