Post Office internet growth stunted by management

WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 2001 DEC 28 (NB) — By Robert MacMillan, Newsbytes. The U.S. Postal Service has been unable to develop a unified and effective Internet and e-commerce strategy, mainly because of a “fragmented” management approach, says a new report issued by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO).

The report, released earlier this week, is a follow-up by the GAO on recommendations it gave to the Postal Service in September 2000 on updating its services for the Internet.

“To date, USPS has not achieved its expected performance for the e-commerce program,” the GAO said in the report, which was commissioned by Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss.

The agency noted that the Postal Service’s mediocre performance is not for lack of desire to improve its e-commerce efforts, but for its inability through much of 2001 to mount a coordinated program.

The GAO added that the Postal Service is aware of the splintered approaches to dealing with electronic commerce among its various branches, and in September 2001 initiated a personnel and management structure shake-up to better coordinate Internet efforts.

The GAO also noted that the USPS has not fully figured out its goals for how to pay for e-commerce services, though it intends to not allow for cross-subsidization for online efforts from other Postal Service branches.

“Without accurate, complete and consistent financial information, USPS will not be in a position to assess its progress toward its financial performance goals for its e-commerce program,” the report said. “In addition, USPS does not have clear and comprehensive policies and procedures that would address how … revenues and costs associated with its e-commerce and other new products and services are to be reported.”

On the more optimistic side, however, the GAO found that the Postal Service’s online privacy policies “exceed those required by federal law.”

The report, which analyzed Postal Service e-commerce activity from January 2001 to October 2001, also noted that the USPS had hoped to generate $104 million in online revenue, increase traffic to the Postal Service Web site, “maximize” customer satisfaction and save money for the entire agency.

Total e-commerce sales for the service in 2000 were $25.8 billion, while reports from the end of the first half of 2001 indicated only a marginal increase.

Postal Service officials were not immediately available for comment.