America's "fourth carrier" for e-commerce launches next month
A major new shipping service for e-commerce retailers is set to launch next month in the United States, to compete head-on against FedEx and UPS ground services. Seattle-based EquaShip is particularly chasing business from smaller e-commerce shippers, who might not enjoy the kind of shipping discounts that the likes of Amazon currently enjoy, and therefore find it hard to compete when online consumers increasingly expect “free” shipping.
The company started up by former Earth Class Mail CEO Ron Wiener and former Amazon and UPS logistics manager Shawn Childs, and backed by investment from DYMO Endicia parent Newell Rubbermaid, is planning a major publicity campaign as it launches in mid-October.
It is also positioning itself within key e-commerce software platforms as the “fourth carrier” along with FedEx, UPS and the US Postal Service.
Drop-off and pick-up arrangements are being established in highly populated areas of the US, with the intention of expanding into rural areas over time.
Selling points
Ron Wiener, EquaShip CEO, is competing for small and medium-sized ecommerce shippers
EquaShip is selling itself with two key benefits for small and medium-sized business-to-consumer shipping compared to FedEx, UPS and the US Postal Service – beating their costs, and improving the customer service experience.
On costs, Equaship has just released its pricing handbook, which claims to beat FedEx and UPS costs by as much as 30-70% in many categories.
It is using a combination of drop-off points on a network managed by its primary shipping partner, Blue Package, Inc., as well as a pick-up service offering on-demand and scheduled collections for an extra fee.
Wiener says EquaShip’s lower costs reflect the fact that it is not providing huge discounts to a few major shippers, so smaller shippers are not subsidising enterprise players.
On quality of service, EquaShip promises more track-and-trace scan points than his rivals, but perhaps an even bigger draw will be its insurance offering, which includes a guaranteed $100 coverage for every shipment and the option of more.
EquaSurance
The company says its “EquaSurance” offers an alternative to rivals’ Declared Value insurance that cuts out long lists of product restrictions and provides a streamlined claims process. The insurance is provided by Online Shipping Insurance Services, a company backed by insurer Lloyds of London.
Since e-commerce sales of new goods come with their own invoices stating clearly the value of the goods, Wiener says there will be no need for any arguing over value within the claims process.
Essentially for smaller e-commerce shippers that do not have dedicated staff to chase insurance claims, EquaShip is promising its streamlined process will pay out much more easily and quickly in the event of shipping problems than its rivals FedEx, UPS or USPS.
The EquaSurance component will feature heavily in EquaShip’s plans to publicise its new services, the company’s CEO said.
“We’re preparing the full-on guide to full insurance and declared value insurance – it’s spectacular,” Wiener told Post&Parcel.
“It’s a consumer advocacy issue – so many people think they’re buying insurance (on their shipping), and they have no idea that even if it’s on the list as something that’s covered, there’s all these clauses that (shippers) can blow off your claim – and they usually do.”
USPS partnership
Along with Blue Package, Inc., and other regional transport partners, EquaShip will be working closely with the US Postal Service – particularly on the final mile delivery, and for internationally-bound packages.
As a USPS resale partner, EquaShip will also be offering USPS products like flat-rate priority mail boxes and express mail services for items requiring a more rapid transit.
Wiener explained: “There’s no way you can beat flat-rate boxes for a lot of different merchandise categories, especially for zones five to eight.”
The benefit for shippers compared to standalone USPS services is that the EquaShip option would come with its prized insurance included.
Launch
EquaShip’s launch comes following more than two years of preparations, and had hoped to launch in August or September, though a re-evaluation of the importance of pick-up services has put that back to October.
“There were customers we talked to where the savings we would create were 50-60-70% off what they were paying today for shipping, but they didn’t want to haul their stuff to a drop-off box every day,” Wiener explained.
“We found with some of the bigger customers that were going to use us, it was just not practical to use drop-off facilities, so we’ve reevaluated and will have pick-up from day one.”
EquaShip has now hired public relations assistance to tempt customers away from ups.com and fedex.com, while it is also being embedded in e-commerce platforms so that users of, for example, the eBase or Shipworks systems will immediately be able to use the “fourth carrier”.
“Those software vendors are going to be promoting it to their client base, who are all merchants, manufacturers and distributors,” said Wiener, adding: “And for everyone else, we’ll be putting on quite the PR assault once we turn the site live.”
