The U.S. Postal Service said Friday it is proposing to merge three ground delivery products into a new brand known as USPS Ground Advantage, which will offer two- to five-day transit times with pound, ounce-based and cubic pricing options for parcels weighing up to 70 pounds.
The three products being merged are First-Class Package Service, targeted at merchants shipping parcels under 1 pound, Parcel Select Ground, targeted at shippers weighing between 1 and 70 pounds, and a new service called Parcel Select Ground Cubic, which sets prices based on the parcel’s cubic dimensions and handles weights between 1 and 70 pounds.
Goods will be shipped across the Postal Service’s massive ground network.
The product is aimed at shippers willing to sacrifice speed for price. It is also intended for users of the Postal Service’s Priority Mail service, who need two- to three-day transit times but don’t want to pay Priority Mail’s pound-based prices.
In a statement, the Postal Service said it plans to unveil the offering after it is approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission, the independent agency that must sign off on product rollouts and pricing changes, among other duties.
Gordon Glazer, head of the postal practice at consultancy Shipware, said the new offering responds to merchants whose customers don’t require two-day deliveries. Consumers keeping a close eye on their discretionary spending in an inflationary environment will also benefit from the lower-priced service, according to Glazer.
The new service “touts the benefits of a less-expensive (shipping) alternative, one that is more climate-friendly and reflects the changing values of urgency in the supply chain,” Glazer said.