Sent Items #142: Sunday, August 20, 2023

Happy Sunday!

Twice in a week is uncommon for long-time readers of Sent Items, but here we are.

Several intriguing headlines I wanted to share and discuss, so let’s get to it:

1. On the back of last week’s commentary on delivery speed (I remain a proponent of speed as a competitive advantage in eComm delivery) MarketPlace Pulse reports that Walmart fulfills 50% of online orders from their stores (link). This proves the importance of reducing miles traveled to deliver packages while chasing faster delivery times. Walmart has stores within 10 miles of approximately 90% of the population in the U.S.

2. Amazon unveils a deferred ground delivery service (link). Ground deliveries will be made in five days or less. The service appears to be aimed at shippers that don’t use Amazon for retail or FBA, and competes with FedEx and UPS. It is "Available for multiple channels — your website, Amazon.com, and more." Service website is here (link).

3. Somewhat relatedly, Amazon is also adding a new fee for sellers who ship their own packages (link). This fee appears aimed at those using Seller Fulfilled Prime (“SFP”), where merchants ship from their own warehouse (or select 3PLs) but still get the Prime badge on their listing. Beginning October 1, sellers will pay a 2% fee on each sale.

4. Flexport has introduced a new program called Flexport Parcel (link) that lets you purchase and print shipping labels at discounts generally only available to large retailers. They also pledge no hidden fees, a network of partners in one app, national sorting centers, and daily pick-ups. It is available not only to existing Flexport customers, but also through the EasyPost dashboard.

   With Parcel, we’ll pick up your shipment, move it to one of our regional sortation centers, and get it delivered at speed through a network of trusted national, regional and local partners. I am most interested in what the pickup experience is like (contracted? to whom?), and sorting centers.

   On the one hand, it appears Dave Clark is quickly integrating the Deliverr/Shopify Logistics stack into Flexport; on the other hand, is this a signal that they are winding down the fulfillment business and retrofitting Deliverr FCs into sorting centers?

   I played around with their pricing tool, and I received this error message until I plugged in 50 daily orders:

Here is what a simulated 1 lbs, Zone 1 shipment looks like:

$5.40 is about 30% less than the $7.64 that USPS charges for a similar shipment. However it’s unclear what services are part of their Standard and Expedited networks, and why the rates are the same for both?

Have a great rest of the weekend.

- Matt

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