Customers abandon USP, new data show - this is why
Biannual price increases can keep customers away from otherwise faithful.
When you need Post a package , you have some different options, including the American postal service (USPS), Fedex and UPS. But with regard to cards and letters, you cannot say that USPS is not the most practical and often affordable option. Everything you have to do is burst a stamp on the envelope, stick it in your mailbox and believe that it will arrive at your destination. On a larger scale, the ease and affordability of USPS services are also a plus for businesses and operations that depend on the agency for more than greeting and invoices. But according to a new report, some of the largest customers of the USPS actively abandon the agency.
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Non-profit organisation Keep us posted - which is made up of American people and individual organizations "united in the belief that a reliable and affordable postal service is essential to our way of life" - published its " Criticism of USPS elasticities "This month, highlighting the defects of the agency's regular price increases. Price increases are part of the General Post Maître Louis Dejoy's 10 years Deliver for America (DFA) Plan, intended to take USPS "from an organization in financial and operational crisis to that which is independent and very efficient". AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB
Since August 2021, the price of the Forever stamp has continued to climb twice a year, reaching 68 cents in January. According to Federal News Network, the USPS plans to ask the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) for a Sixth increase this summer.
While the USPS argues that hikes create a "more rational pricing strategy" and must increase due to inflation, the new report to keep us displayed underlines that they keep customers away.
According to the report, the predominantly revenues of the market fell by $ 1.8 billion from the USPS for 2023. This turnover includes products on which USPS has a monopoly (including the mail of first class and marketing mail).
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The justification of price increases does not fully take into account the sensitivity to customer prices, is too based on historical data and is "based on erroneous economic forecasts" Press release of Keep it displayed for complaints. And even if the dominant market products generally do not decrease as much in volume in response to the rise in prices, more and more customers send less positions, depending on the report.
"[USPS] see greater decreases than their planned models, due to this error," Mike Plunkett , the former USPS director for pricing strategy and innovation and the director of retail alliances, told Federal News Network. "They adopted an aggressive short -term approach that created long -term challenges."
Make things more complicated, those who reduce or eliminate mail due to prices are not likely to return to their old ways even if the rates stabilize, the report indicates.
In a declaration at Better life About the report, USPS spokesperson David Coleman said that USPS prices "remain among the most affordable in the world," noting that recent report and criticism "seem deeply imperfect".
The USPS also maintains its price plan, according to Coleman's declaration.
"While inflationary pressures on operating expenses are continuing and the effects of a previously defective pricing model are always felt, pricing adjustments have provided the postal service of net income essential to carry out the requested financial stability By its regime of ten years of delivery in America, "said Coleman." The postal service implements and continuously improves its estimates in the way the volume of the mail reacts to price changes and other factors, and these estimates were filed with the postal regulatory committee for decades. "
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But while the USPS continues to assess prices, the new report says that the recent drop in income indicates "a potential problem with the model used to defend rate increases".
"The size of the [price] increases - and almost as important, having two increases per year - has changed the behavior of the post people and say:" Hey, the prices increase, "said Plunkett, now president of Postcom (who has Order the report), to Federal News Network.
He added: "Twice a year, you must have another discussion on how we can possibly get out of the mail for a more affordable chain."
If another rate increase is approved by the PRC, it could end up being a "ugly tilting point", " Steve Kearney , Executive director of the alliance of non-profit sender and former USPS treasurer and price vice-president, told Federal News Network.
"The study verifies what many envoyers already know in their guts. The postal service damages its current finances, its long -term solvency and many envoys who finance the agency with a dominant mail on the market. It would be very irresponsible To continue digging a deeper hole based on erroneous information, "said Kearney.