Postal Service Plans Overseas Mail-Order Marketing Program
May 06, 2011
WASHINGTON -- Before long, shoppers in Berlin, Brasilia and Beijing could be buying from mail-order catalogs just like folks in Baton Rouge, Buffalo and Boise. The U.S. Postal Service is preparing to launch Global Package Link, a service designed to ease mail-order sales across international borders. ``We want to make it as easy for U.S. businesses to do business in another country as in another state,'' said Jami F. Pascoe, vice president for international business. Under testing for a year in Japan, the post office will announce an expansion to seven more countries next week, with plans to add more later. While half of the mail carried in the United States is business-related, only 10% to 15% of mail in most other countries is business-related, Mr. Pascoe said, creating the potential for extensive growth. During the test phase in Japan, he said, the program helped marketers like L.L. Bean, Land's End and Nicol Margarito launch or increase their catalog sales in that country. The next step, he said, will be expanding the service to Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Germany, Great Britain and Mexico. Other countries will be added in future. The program is aimed at large marketers, and rates are discounted based on volume. But Pascoe said that as the system grows it will be expanded to serve smaller companies. ``We will have a door-to-door service, not a shore-to-shore service,'' he said of the project. The post office will collect mail -- advertising, catalogs and packages -- from participating companies. It will assist in preparing customs and tax forms and haul the mail to the foreign country where delivery will be handled by a cooperating carrier such as Britain's Parcel Force. The system is designed to work both ways and Mr. Pascoe says foreign marketers will also have the opportunity to offer sales in the United States. The post office has conducted market research in the participating countries and will offer this data to companies that want to sell there, Mr. Pascoe said. In addition, it is setting up a system to message parcel content data electronically to foreign customs offices in advance. With this advance notification customs officials can single out any package they want to inspect while quickly passing along the rest for prompt delivery, he said. Global Package Link is part of an effort by the post office to expand its international services. It has extended Global Express Mail to 27 countries in the last few years and is currently experimenting with an electronic-mail system between the United States and Germany.
