UPS Network Expansion Provides Weekend Delivery and Extended Hours Coverage

UPS in 2020 will deliver more packages on more days of the week so merchants can get products to their customers sooner.

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The company announced weekend network enhancements and expanded coverage of UPS Extended Hours late-night pickup for local next-day Ground delivery, now reaching 98% of the U.S.

The improvements are strategically designed to give merchants, especially small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), increased speed and flexibility to get their products to their customers sooner.

Seven Days a Week Residential Deliveries

This year, UPS plans to expand network operations to provide residential deliveries seven days a week, meeting customers’ demands for Saturday and Sunday delivery within one to three days from order placement.

According to a recent industry study from Shippo, more than half of consumers and online retailers choose fulfillment and delivery in under three days.

These merchants are increasingly using speed of delivery to differentiate their total product, delivery time and transaction price offer to consumers.

UPS is pulling forward spending on network time in transit improvements in 2020 to accelerate SMB growth initiatives.

The company plans to triple the rate of improvement in 2020, when compared to gains made in 2019, resulting in making time-in-transit faster for 80% of residential and commercial customers in the United States.

The company will more than double Saturday delivery volume in 2020, reaching an additional 40 million U.S. consumers.

As a result of weekend enhancements, merchants have the flexibility to choose standard or economy shipping solutions for Saturday or Sunday delivery.

UPS will initially offer an economy service for Sunday delivery and expand offerings throughout the year. Residential packages now delivered on Sunday would have previously arrived on the following Tuesday before network upgrades.

UPS is the only integrated carrier providing Saturday pickup service for all service levels (International, Air, Ground and UPS SurePost).

UPS Ground & UPS 3-Day Select packages destined for the surrounding region will be advanced one day for Monday delivery.

UPS also offers Sunday pickup services to customers on a contractual basis. The weekend service network was developed around consumers and shippers in high-density zip codes where nearly three-quarters of all Americans live.

“Demand for faster delivery is a growing trend with the largest e-commerce shippers moving from two-day to one-day delivery. Our network enhancements and weekend services give our customers industry-leading choice, convenience, and speed to market.”

 

Kevin Warren, UPS Chief Marketing Officer

UPS Also Plans to Expand Late Night Pick-Up

UPS also expanded coverage of UPS Extended Hours, providing industry-leading late-night pickup for local next-day Ground delivery.

The later pickup times allow merchants to reach 98% of the U.S. consumer population for next-day Ground delivery and enables shippers to process more orders in a day. The service is available to qualifying shippers by contract.

Ecommerce orders spike late in the evening, so UPS Extended Hours service allows merchants to extend their daily cut-off time for processing orders tendered to UPS.

The service also helps merchants manage rapid online order fulfillment and avoid lost sales due to online shopping cart abandonment.

UPS Extended Hours pickup service for next day local ground delivery also creates additional speed-to-market benefits for retailers.

UPS Extended Hours and weekend services give merchants enhanced ship-from-store capability with fewer store stock-outs, faster inventory turns, more efficient space utilization and increased productivity.

UPS Extended Hours pickup service also helps merchants manage rapid online order fulfillment and avoid lost sales due to online shopping cart abandonment.

UPS Extended Hours service for local next-day Ground service enables shippers to reach 98% of the U.S. consumer population on the next day.

UPS Committed to Helping SMBs Grow

As part of its long-term growth strategy, UPS remains committed to increasing its presence with SMB customers and helping them grow and compete globally.

UPS’s network and broad portfolio of services such as the UPS Extended Hours pickup service, weekend service network expansion, and faster time-in-transit allow SMBs to access services previously only available to large companies, expand into new markets and service their customers more efficiently.

Such services and solutions augment UPS’s full range of transportation and delivery service options such as more than 41,000 global UPS Access Point locations by the end of 2020, UPS My Choice® for home and My Choice for business and a comprehensive returns portfolio.

Will you be using UPS more in 2020 to take advantage of weekend deliveries?

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READ MORE: UPS Announces Innovative Services and Programs to Help Small Businesses Grow