eBay and Etsy have sounded the alarm on USPS package delays, but shipping company Shippo has actually published hard data that shows which services are impacted and by how much.
Shippo data from July and August revealed that 24% of Priority Mail and 17% of First Class shipments sent by its customers were delivered later than the originally scheduled delivery date.
Shippo focused its analysis on Priority Mail and First Class Package Service using aggregate data from all 50,000 of its small and medium-sized customers who shipped tens of millions of packages during the time period analyzed.
Compared with May and June, 17.45% more Priority Mail packages were delayed in July and August overall, taking 9.03% longer to arrive. Priority Mail packages traveling shorter distances (Zones 1-4) saw smaller increases while Zones 5-8 saw increased transit times.
Shippo also found that overall, 31.28% more First Class Package Service packages were delayed in July and August compared to May and June, taking an average of 8.8% longer to arrive.
The data also pointed out certain problem routes. “While the average Priority Mail package has a 24% chance of being delayed nationwide, a package shipped within Massachusetts (MA to MA) jumps to 54%,” a spokesperson for Shippo told EcommerceBytes.
“For First Class Packages, the national average delivery delay is 17% – however, nine of the top ten most-delayed routes originate in California, with average delays nearing 30%,” he said.
Despite the delays, Shippo said that overall, the USPS remains a reliable choice for most ecommerce shipments. While it saw no comparable delays at UPS or FedEx, sellers who make a switch to a rival carrier could incur higher operational and shipping costs, and it offered guidance to those considering a transition.
Detailed data can be found on the company’s website (GoShippo.com), and it published an accompanying post on the Shippo blog.
Ina Steiner
Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She’s a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of “Turn eBay Data Into Dollars” (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, “Blogging Heroes” (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.
