UPS have launched ‘Shipping with Simplicity’ initiative that sees merchants saving up to 40% on shipping discounts this Christmas season.
The supplier say that merchants can now enjoy a limited offer of lower prices on each shipment by using a promo code EASY to take advantage of the savings when shipping on ups.com. These include 20% UPS ground shipment, 40% 1,2 or 3-day air shipment UPS standard to Canada and 40% worldwide services UPS standard to Mexico. Both of those countries are large trading partners with the U.S. and are typically the first countries where small and medium-sized businesses expand their ecommerce sales. For UPS accounts with an existing price agreement, says UPS, promotion code discounts rates will apply only if they are higher than the current pricing agreement rate for the UPS account number.
UP say that they have “simplified [their] online shipping experience to make it quicker and easier [for merchants]” in a bit to entice more small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to join their network
“These savings, together with our highly reliable network, which is performing at levels consistent with our non-peak, on-time performance, is a winning combination. The promotion is simple and easy to use, and has been well received by small and medium-sized businesses.”
-Kevin Warren, chief marketing officer at UPS
Shipping fee concerns
Last week, UPS announced that their shipping rates will increase on selected service in a bid to support their offering. I have argued that it seems like the supplier’s surcharge is aimed at getting a financial boost as they have a track record of spiking their service changes in time for the Christmas peak. Meanwhile, UPS appears to have a contradictory strategy that focuses on applying shipping surcharges aimed at merchants and at the same time introducing shipping discounts to them. It remains unclear how much of an extra fee will be introduced to sellers’ shipments and whether the discounted scheme will keep a balance of their overall payment cost for the UPS’s last mile service? But what is clear so far is that the discounted offering is a “limited” one as noted in the initiative’s T&Cs and the shipping surcharges appear to add-on every year traditionally.
