Tag: USA

Omega United Announces Corporate Name Change to SkyPostal Networks, Inc.

Posted by | Jul 28, 2008 | |

Omega United, Inc. dba SkyPostal, an international mail distribution company specializing in hand delivery of commercial mail and periodicals to the Latin America-Caribbean region (LAC), announced that the Company will officially change it’s corporate name to SkyPostal Networks Inc effective Monday, July 28th. The company’s new trading symbol on the OTC Bulletin Board will be SKPN.

The name change to “SkyPostal Networks” better reflects the Company’s mission to be an international leader in the non-time critical mail and parcel post delivery market, and is expected to support the future promotion of a readily identifiable brand name for the Company’s products.

“We are very pleased to complete the name change to SkyPostal Networks, a name that we believe will enable us to be more marketable on a global scale with a cohesive, instantly-recognizable identity,” said Albert P. Hernandez, SkyPostal’s President and CEO. “Additionally, the name change comes at an opportune time when we are making significant expansions to our product and service offerings.”

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Are postal catalogues finished?

Posted by | Jul 28, 2008 | |

One respected industry analysis firm estimates that one in four UK mail order companies are now operating at a loss. Of nearly 900 mail order companies analysed, over 200 are currently rated by Plimsoll as being ‘in danger’. Jotham Danquah MD of Zmags (UK) explains more.

Many of the industry’s problems are converging at exactly the same moment – high inflation in raw materials, printing costs and transport are all combining with an economic downturn which was reflected in June’s record 3.9 per cent drop in retail sales (the highest drop ever recorded).

The key question therefore is whether postal mail order as a business model is doomed? Bloomingdales, the famous US retailer seems to think so. The company recently announced that it sees no future in postal mail order and is quitting it altogether in 2009. Given that Bloomingdales is owned by Macy’s, the second largest US retailer, such a move is not insignificant.

What has driven Bloomingdales’ decision? Online mail order. After all, why spend millions printing and distributing catalogues when the internet is readily available at a fraction of the cost? Bloomingdales expects USD 1 billion in internet sales this year alone which is not far behind its high street retail sales figure.

The internet is now transforming the mail order industry as demonstrated in the UK by Littlewoods Shop Direct (the UK’s market leader) where one in three sales are now made online. In fact, Littlewoods expects online orders to represent half of all sales by 2009. This is the future.

A key part of this transition to the internet is the growth of online digital page-turning software. These solutions, of which Zmags is one example, are downloaded quickly, are fully functional and offer a few advantages over postal catalogues. One example? Page-turning software can incorporate still photos that come to life and move as embedded video when clicked-upon.

Furthermore, catalogues are easily transferred online using pdf software conversions. It’s a straightforward process that transforms a postal catalogue into a digital page-turning version within the space of a few minutes. Free trials are readily available through most providers.

In short, digital catalogues offer an especially powerful way of tapping into the power of the internet and harnessing its ability to generate catalogue sales.

What are the cost advantages? Well that depends on factors such as list costs, email broadcast etc but as a rule digital catalogue versions cost 10 per cent of the postal catalogue costs. With the mail order industry working to 2% pre-tax margins that’s a critical cost saving.

The postal catalogue is not finished – far from it because people will always want to read a hard copy from the comfort of their sofa. However, postal mail order is coming under severe pressure from two sides: catalogue production/distribution inflation on one side and the rise in internet sales from the other. For the above reasons, I expect postal catalogues to continue their decline with digital catalogues taking their place.

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DMA's Prescott presents UPU Consultative Committee Chairman's report at 24th Universal Postal Congress in Geneva

Posted by | Jul 28, 2008 | |

Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Vice President of International Development Charles Prescott is attending the 24th Universal Postal Congress in Geneva, Switzerland. Prescott also is the chairman of the Universal Postal Union’s (UPU) Consultative Committee (CC).

During his report to the Congress on CC activities, Prescott announced that the Committee, during the next four-year cycle, would focus on address systems and change of address systems, as well as the related subject of sustainable development.

“Addresses are the structural core of the postal system,” Prescott told delegates convened in Geneva. “Consequently, the availability and accuracy of addresses are critical elements in the health of both domestic systems and the international postal network.”

“They are a huge public good, and this asset is used for a large number of important societal purposes,” Prescott said. “In addition to communication, those purposes include land-use planning, public service delivery, emergency response, and so forth. During the coming cycle our Committee intends to explore in depth all the issues surrounding those two themes: available addresses, and accurate addresses.”

Additionally, Prescott said that the CC will focus on the environmental impact of poorly addressed mail, which is one of the UPU’s core postal strategies. Prescott referred to Postmaster General John E. Potter’s goal for the US Postal Service (USPS) to reduce by 50 percent the USD 2 billion problem of undeliverable mail in the US as an indication of the seriousness of the problem.

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Capital One, USPS in NSA dispute

Posted by | Jul 28, 2008 | |

The Postal Regulatory Commission may rule in August on the dispute between Capital One Services Inc. and the US Postal Service, regarding the issu¬ance of a contract between the USPS and the mailer that would provide customized pricing incentives.
Capital One filed a complaint about the negotiated service agreement (NSA) with the PRC on June 19, alleging that the Postal Service “unduly discrimi¬nated” against the company because it was denied a NSA under the same terms as one granted to its competitor, Bank of America Corp.
Terms of the Bank of America NSA, which went into effect April 1, required multiple operational commitments from the company, including implementing the Intelligent Mail barcode and other auto¬mated sorting tools, as well as waiving the physical return of certain First Class Mail and Standard Mail pieces.
The USPS claims that Capital One’s proposed NSA was not identical to that of Bank of America, and that Capital One had not exhausted all good faith negotiations for an NSA before filing the complaint.
A Capital One spokesman declined to comment beyond the company’s com¬plaint filing, which states that the company was denied a NSA that was “functionally equivalent” to that of Bank of America.
Capital One further alleges that the NSA between Bank of America and the USPS used thresholds for mailing dis¬counts based on industry rates from 1998, rather than current NSA baselines.
The USPS has approved a total of nine NSAs, with one extension, since the opportunity began in 2002. Capital One received the first NSA, which was approved, in May 2003. The agreement granted the bank a discount rate on mail volume above an annual total of 1.225 billion pieces for a three-year term. The USPS receives between 50 and 100 requests for NSAs each year, according to a USPS spokesman.

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General debate sets tone for UPU Congress

Posted by | Jul 25, 2008 | |

Decision-makers from the international community today participated in a high-level general debate during the 24th Universal Postal Congress. Themed “The postal sector, an essential component of the global economy”, the debate gathered stakeholders from the larger postal sector.

The World Trade Organization stressed the crucial role infrastructures such as postal services play in international trade. For the International Monetary Fund, the postal sector has a considerable impact on the reduction of trade costs. For its part, the World Bank noted the importance of money transfer services for migrants, adding that postal operators were in a unique position to offer such services so essential to development. The Russian Post said postal networks could work with banks to offer additional services and increase their revenues.

eBay International noted the role of postal services in the distribution of millions of items bought online annually. However, many online shoppers still hesitate to order goods from abroad. Only 20 pct of goods purchased on eBay sites cross borders. Citing high shipment costs and a need for improved quality of service, eBay urged postal operators to find solutions to these issues.

The Tunisian Post showed how the Government has made postal services part of a national policy to promote the information society by using the Post as a trusted intermediary in the electronic world and as a facilitator of e-commerce. On a regional level, the African Union expressed its desire to integrate postal services in its regional infrastructure development plan, as it does with water, electricity, telecommunications and transportation.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) finally invited the postal sector to take part in a worldwide awareness campaign on environment challenges. Thanks to an agreement signed in April between the UPU and UNEP, postal operators will work together on greening the postal sector.

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