Tag: USA

Allied Capital Announces Buyout of Worldwide Express

Posted by | Aug 7, 2007 | |

Allied Capital Corporation announced today that it has completed the buyout of Worldwide Express Inc., (“WWEX”), a leading reseller in the U.S. of DHL express and ground shipping services to the small and medium-sized business market, with a USD 15.7 million subordinated debt and equity investment. Management of WWEX also made a significant debt and equity investment alongside Allied Capital. Third party lenders provided all of the senior financing and the majority of the subordinated debt for the deal.

Worldwide Express is the largest master franchisor of DHL shipping services in the U.S., with approximately 150 franchisees serving over 60,000 small business customers nationwide. The reseller model is used by DHL to penetrate the highly fragmented small and medium-sized business (SMB) market with a direct, high-touch sales strategy. WWEX supports this strategy by providing its franchisees access to over 200 days of sales and marketing training per year, recruiting and operational support, in addition to localized service, customized billing solutions, and pricing discounts to its customers.

Fidus Partners served as advisor to WWEX in the transaction.

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MailExpress Secures USD 15 Million Series B Funding

Posted by | Aug 7, 2007 | |

MailExpress, Inc., the leading provider of services focused solely on expedited mail, today announced that it has closed its series B round of funding for USD 15 million. XAnge Capital led the financing, which includes additional investments from first round investors CMEA Ventures and Logispring. MailExpress will use the investment to complete the nationwide network and technology rollout needed to handle the dramatic growth in demand for its expedited mail services.

The funding comes on the heels of the company having just announced the opening of its seventh new facility of 2007, an operation in Atlanta. Additional facility openings are planned to meet continued growth in demand for its services, which helps companies to realize faster speed, higher accuracy, increased flexibility and lower cost than First Class Mail. As a result, clients representing corporate marketers, ad agencies, financial services firms, as well as direct distributors of lightweight parcels have been drawn to the business improvements they can realize through MailExpress. This growth prompted follow-up investments from Logispring and CMEA Ventures.

Marcel Timmer, a Partner at investor Logispring, commented, “We are very pleased with the success that we believe MailExpress will continue to enjoy. It demonstrates the power of combining cutting-edge technology with long standing operating models, in a collaboration between strong entrepreneurs and domain-focused investors.”

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US e-retail sales have climbed 23 pct in a year

Posted by | Aug 7, 2007 | |

The comScore report on US e-commerce spending for Q2 2007 showed that non-travel (i.e. retail) e-commerce grew by 23pct compared to one year ago, reaching some US$27.2 billion.
Over the same period, online travel spending increased by only 14pct to USD 20.3 billion, and total US e-commerce spending climbed an average of 19pct to reach USD 47.5 billion during the year. fmansilla This article is copyright 2007 TheWiseMarketer.com).
E-retail rebounding

According to Gian Fulgoni, chairman for comScore, “Retail e-commerce rebounded solidly in the second quarter after a modest start to the year. After posting 17pct growth year-on-year in Q1 2007, retail e-commerce sales grew by 23pct year-on-year in Q2 2007, continuing to match the growth rates seen over the past couple of years.”
The top-gaining e-commerce category in Q2 2007 was video games, consoles & accessories, which jumped by 159 pct on the strength of Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 sales. Sport & fitness also saw substantial gains (up 58 pct), followed by consumer electronics (up 51pct ) and event tickets (up 44pct ).
US e-spending forecast

Total US online consumer spending reached USD 170.8 billion in 2006, with non-travel spending accounting for USD 102.1 billion of that. Based on the first-half growth rates for 2007, total US online consumer spending is forecast to reach a milestone of USD 200 billion in 2007.
“Even factoring in the moderate growth rates from Q1 2007, we are currently on target to break the USD 200 billion mark in 2007,” explained Fulgoni. “However, in the past, we have seen growth rates accelerate as the year progresses, culminating with the online holiday shopping season, so the USD 200 billion forecast may even turn out to be a conservative estimate.”

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USPS looks to union to help curb costs and avoid contracting

Posted by | Aug 7, 2007 | |

The U.S. Postal Service is asking for the cooperation of its unions in holding down costs if it is to avoid contracting out work, Postmaster General John Potter said last week.

Potter said he needed union help to improve service, reduce costs and increase revenue, suggesting lack of help on those issues would necessitate more outsourcing, though he echoed past pledges not to outsource existing postal jobs.

While postal unions and some congressional Democrats remain opposed to almost any outsourcing, Potter said postal managers, when asked to cut costs, need the discretion to outsource functions.

The hearing was the second held by the subcommittee since the passage of the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which introduced the most far-reaching changes at the agency since it became semiprivate in 1970.

The bill left undetermined many aspects of the Postal Service’s businesses, including to what extent the agency will use contractors to cut costs. A task force of postal and union officials is working together to issue recommendations this year.

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Vertis debuts MailTrail

Posted by | Aug 7, 2007 | |

Vertis Communications has unveiled MailTrail, a mail tracking and reporting system powered by GrayHair Software.

MailTrail provides marketers with the ability to trace a direct mail campaign’s journey through the mail stream, from a package’s initial entry to its projected in-home delivery date. The system design is driven by the US Postal Service’s next-generation Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) technology.

The IMB technology combines the capabilities of the USPS’s Postnet and Planet barcodes, as well as others, into one unique barcode system.

Clients can access this mailing data collected by the USPS in a variety of formats through their Vertis MailTrail portal and a comprehensive set of reports powered by GrayHair.

The reports, updated twice daily, give a variety of views of the mailing data by campaign, mailing version and geography.

The system addresses several challenges for marketers. It allows for more accurate in-home delivery times, multichannel campaigns, managing call-center resources (since it accurately forecasts call center volumes) and rapid views of response rates and receptivity.

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