U.S. Postal Service Plans To Test Same-Day Delivery Service

The United States Postal Service plans to launch a "same-day" delivery service called "Metro Post," in one U.S. city, for a year. The potential implications for online commerce, as you might guess, are rather intriguing. 

One big difference between "online" and "place-based" retailing is how it takes for a consumer to take possession of a product that has been purchased. Increasingly, it does not always "cost less" to buy online, after considering taxes and shipping costs. Shoppers tend to "get what they want" as "selection" always is better online than at any particular retail outlet. 

But buyers also have to wait to take possession of what they have purchased. With same-day delivery, the playing field is more nearly equal, on that front. 

But much will depend on how well USPS can execute, and how it manages pricing, volume (which will be limited) and the range of partners it can attract. Also, this is just a test. 

As with many start-up ventures, scale will matter. The service will potentially be most useful if a large percentage of U.S. residents can order from a wide range of popular merchants (online or physical retailers), at prices they are willing to pay. 

The daily cut-off time for making a purchase will likely be between 2pm and 3pm and delivery should occur between 4pm and 8pm. 

Initially, the test is specifically designed for e-commerce companies and will initially focus on a single (currently undisclosed) metropolitan area. The market test  for Metro Post is scheduled to begin around November 12 and run for at least one year.

Same-day delivery is widely viewed as a feature that could greatly change the amount of merchandise volume that can move through online channels, compared to physical retail channels.