UPS makes it more convenient to return goods

UPS joins USPS to enable consumers to return packages via home mailbox. UPS announced it is launching UPS Returns Flexible Access, a new service with a unique label that allows consumers to drop returns at any U.S. Postal Service (USPS) location or personal mailbox in addition to the thousands of UPS locations nationwide.

UPS began testing the service last year with a few retailers such as BuySeasons, the largest retailer of costumes and party supplies on the Internet. Because of the positive customer response, UPS now is making the returns service more broadly available.

UPS Returns Flexible Access utilizes the Postal Service’s Parcel Return Service, combined with UPS’s own drop-off locations and delivery network, to provide retailers’ customers with increased convenience when returning items. Customers of participating retailers receive special package labels that allow them to enter returns packages in more than 150 million postal access points – including personal mailboxes – for their postal carrier to pick up.

Consumers also can drop the package off at their local U.S. Post Office, in postal collection boxes or at traditional UPS drop-off locations including The UPS Store, UPS drop boxes, UPS customer centers, third-party retailers (Office Depot, Staples, and Authorized Shipping Outlets) or hand it to a UPS driver.

After a returns package is transported to a Postal Service location for dispatch to UPS, a UPS driver picks it up and transports the package back to the retailer via the UPS ground network. This offers retailers an inbound view of returns packages, facilitating improved customer service and cost savings due to better inbound operations planning.

UPS Returns services feature better time-in-transit than traditional returns consolidators. In addition, most UPS Returns services are available internationally, simplifying the returns process from 98 countries or territories around the globe. The UPS Developer Kit enables customers to integrate UPS Returns into their own Web sites and enterprise applications.