Author: Archive

Mountain Media Integrates with the Endicia Internet Postage Solution

Posted by | Jul 15, 2008 | |

Mountain Media announced the release of an integration component to their Mountain Commerce shopping cart software that will allow customers to easily process U.S. Postal Service (USPS) order shipping and fulfillment through the Endicia Internet Postage solution. Online merchants supported by Mountain Media’s ecommerce solution are now able to price, purchase and print USPS postage labels directly from their shopping cart management interface.

Endicia offers discounted Delivery and Signature Confirmation™, low-cost insurance, and the option to print labels that hide the amount of postage paid. Additionally, Mountain Commerce’s shipping solution allows merchants to easily repackage shipments and override the shipping weight and dimensions of packages that were automatically generated at checkout. This increases the efficiency of the fulfillment process for merchants that ship via the USPS.

Endicia is very excited to be working with Mountain Media to deliver our cutting-edge Internet Postage ‘Label Server’ solution to their user base. We look forward to a long-term relationship that will give customers access to the savings and benefits of Endicia’s Internet Postage solution, while streamlining their shipping and fulfillment process
Mountain Media creates comprehensive ecommerce solutions by providing robust ecommerce software, custom graphic design, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), hosting, gateway and merchant account services.

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Middle Eastern postal market poised for growth

Posted by | Jul 15, 2008 | |

Postal operations in the Middle East have the potential to generate significant value, but they have limited time before regulatory liberalization and the spread of Internet commerce start to erode their competitive position, according to a new white paper Oliver Wyman, a leading international management consultancy.

• Middle Eastern postal companies today are like their European counterparts during the 1990s in facing abundant growth opportunities.

• The sector has begun to liberalize, slowly opening opportunities for new entrants.

• Immigrants in GCC countries are demanding value-added services.

• Low computer and Internet usage in GCC countries gives postal companies an additional advantage.

Middle Eastern postal companies can take advantage of several trends that Oliver Wyman expects to feed expansion and cross-selling opportunities in the region:

• Large existing post office networks and strong, recognized brands, such as UAE Post

• Large local populations and growing immigrant populations, which require basic services usually available at the local post office

• Regulated markets, which allow Middle Eastern postal companies to set barriers to entry much higher for new entrants as deregulation occurs. Bahrain already has a fully liberalized postal market and Egypt has committed to liberalization by 2009.

• Low penetration of PCs and the Internet at present, heavy reliance on cash transactions, and skepticism about online security

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Western Union's money transfer service thru' postal dept launched

Posted by | Jul 14, 2008 | |

Western Union’s Money Transfer Service through Bangladesh Postal Department was launched yesterday, making an easy way for the expatriates to send home money from abroad.

This facility will be available initially at 450 post offices across the country enabling people to receive remittances easily and quickly. The service will be extended to other post offices of the country in phases.

Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser for Social Welfare and Posts and Telecommunications Brig Gen (Retd) MA Malek formally inaugurated the service by handing over the money sent by an expatriate from Malaysia to his beneficiary.

Postal Department Director General Mobashsher-ur Rahman, Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Saleh Uddin Ahmed, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry Secretary Iqbal Mahmud, Western Union Country Director Ratish Kumar and Country Manager Syed Mohammad Kamal and Additional DG (postal services) AKM Rafiqul Alam was present at the function.

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Rising ATF prices: Good news for postal department, bad for private couriers

Posted by | Jul 14, 2008 | |

The over 50 per cent increase in the price of aviation turbine fuel in the past six months could bring good news for the Indian Postal Department.

As all airlines have raised carriage charges, private couriers have increased their tariffs 8-20 per cent. India Post, on the other hand, has not tinkered with its tariffs at all.

As a result, India Post’s tariff is 70 per cent cheaper for domestic destinations and 30 per cent cheaper for international destinations.

Department of Posts officials said this would help them raise volumes, more so since any tariff hike will not happen till the next Union Budget in 2009. When asked if this will burn a hole in the department’s pocket, the officials said India Post was still making money on its courier service.

Some private courier service operators said they do not see any huge swing of business in favour of India Post.

Meanwhile, India Post is gearing itself for a makeover to provide stiff competition to the private courier services.

Admitting that a lot of companies were not aware of the service offering provided by the department of post, the official said, “We are now looking at strengthening our marketing and sales by making the potential customers aware of the services we provide.”

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EU postal operators failing to communicate

Posted by | Jul 14, 2008 | |

Swiss Post and Royal Mail have been praised for their regular news bulletins by Hellmail, the European postal industry news site.

Editor for Hellmail, Steve Lawson, said “Many Euro postal operators have been rather slow to market themselves and communicate in the wider context since Liberalisation began.” he said.

He said that some postal operators should be praised for their efforts. Swiss Post particularly, with a whole section devoted to media communications including an impressive image library. Royal Mail too has a dedicated press office with almost daily news.

“Oddly, Lithuania scores well in terms of news output, but France’s La Poste, Turkey, Slovakia and Slovenia fall far behind. Italy, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria rarely update their news, The Ukraine, Latvia and Luxembourg have no translation facility at all for news, and Romania stopped producing translated news altogether in 2007.”

Hellmail found that most web sites were reasonably easy to navigate except for Denmark & Greece which had a Flash into that was very difficult to get past. Swiss Post and Royal Mail scored the highest for news output, closely followed by DHL, Malta, and Russian Post.

“Clearly there is much room for improvement and we have emailed most of these operators asking them to look closer at the way they communicate. Obviously some European postal services are heavily tied into state ownership, and in some cases, political regimes, but even so, with Europe pushing for closer ties under postal liberalisation, some countries have simply failed to exploit the potential here. From our perspective, its so important that smaller European countries can be heard. We really do want to know what they’re about.” he said.

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TNT Romania ups profits by 45 pct

Posted by | Jul 14, 2008 | |

TNT Express again grew strongly in Romania in the first half of 2008, according to a newspaper report.

TNT Romania increased its revenues by 25 pct in the first six months of 2008 and improved its net profit by 45 pct year-on-year in the first half of 2008. No exact figures were available.

In 2007, TNT Romania reported a net profit of EUR 5.6 million and revenues of EUR 33 million targeting an increase by 20 pct on the year in 2008, with international courier services generating 75 pct of the total revenues, TNT Country Manager Bogdan Enache said.

The company reportedly plans to build a new road hub at the international airport in TImisoara, western Romania, this year. It has now 20 offices located in main cities of the country, a fleet of more than 180 vehicles and employs 360 people.

TNT Romania competes with the other leading global players DHL, UPS and FedEx as well as domestic companies such as Cargus, Fan Courier, Cargus, Alo Curier, Concorde and Pegasus.

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New FedEx depot shows faith in region (UK)

Posted by | Jul 14, 2008 | |

FedEx has opened a new facility close to Exeter.

The new FedEx depot, at the Greendale Business Park, Woodbury Salterton, has the capacity to sort 500 packages per hour along a 70-metre conveyor system designed to quickly process parcels. And Trevor Hoyle, FedEx UK Managing Director, said: “This depot demonstrates our commitment to playing a central role in the future growth of the South West of England.

“Our investment in Exeter means faster and more flexible services for local businesses and ensures they can continue to benefit from connections with the global economy.”

The 17,000 sq ft facility was also specially adapted to allow vehicles to load from any of the 13 double-shutter doors at the front and side of the building — freeing warehouse space inside.

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