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Postal Rate Increase, Act III (recap of DMA Webinar)


On Monday, March 19, the USPS board of governors approved the rates that were recommended late last month by the Postal Regulatory Commission, paving the way for most of those new rates to go into effect May 14. The board of governors allowed three of those rates under protest, and resubmitted them for consideration again […]

A Postal Rate Case Update From DMA


A POSTAL RATE CASE UPDATE FROM
DMA PRESIDENT & CEO JOHN A. GRECO, JR.
March 21, 2007
4:30 p.m. (EDT)
Dear DMA Member:
While we had some positive news from the Postal Governors on Monday, we still have quite a way to go before the postal rate case is completed and the final rates take effect. I would like to […]

New Customer Service Rankings No Surprise


BusinessWeek’s recent rankings of top customer service retailers don’t exactly come as a big surprise: Legendarily customer-centered retailer Nordstrom occupies the No. 4 spot and sports outfitter Cabela’s holds down No. 15. We blogged about this earlier:
When you have 315,000 SKUs in the DC, as Cabela’s does, you can’t hope to have all that in […]

Cheap Doesn’t Pay


The current USPS rate change crisis for the direct-to-customer industry, reminds us that the industry is in a sea change. Years ago we could rationalize postal increases far better than we can today. By rationalize I mean figure how to offset costs elsewhere and get the increases back. Things have changed.
Response rates have been declining […]

Postal Rate Increase, Act II


It’s ironic: No sooner did the postal reform bill get signed into law than the Postal Regulatory Commission’s recommendation for unexpectedly sharp USPS rate increases sent shock waves through the direct-to-customer industry. Some sources are talking about 20%–40% hikes in rates for flat pieces, the category most directly affecting the catalog industry. (The USPS recommendation […]

Postal rate increase will grievously damage the Catalog Industry


Posted from Mark Swedlund of Haggin Marketing
If any of the friends and readers of Curt’s blog have any clout with the Postal Board of Governors, now is the time to exercise it.
For months we’ve been expecting a 7-9% rate increase, mid year this year.. Now at the 11th hour, it appears […]