Parcel shipping solution Stamps.com, which had been struggling since ending its long-term partnership with the U.S. Parcel Service in February, has been buoyed by a new deal with UPS under which its 740,000 shipper customers can get discounts up to 55% on UPS rates.
Stamps.com customers benefit from the discounts, and UPS gains with a major addition of business from small-to-medium-sized ecommerce merchants.
The deal is part of UPS’s Digital Access Program, under which partners can pass along discounted rates as well as access to other shipping and logistics services to merchant customers. The program extends to all solutions under the Stamps.com banner, including ShipStation, ShippingEasy, ShipWorks, Stamps.com and Endicia.
Other partners in the program to date are Shippo, Shopify, UPS said.
“By embedding UPS natively into popular ecommerce platforms, merchants will get the breadth and reliability of UPS’s services to more than 220 countries and territories,” said Kevin Warren, Chief Marketing Officer at UPS in a release. “More small and medium-sized businesses will now have access to UPS, helping them offer industry-leading delivery commitments and leveling the highly competitive ecommerce playing field.”
“This new collaboration will allow us to bring the leading shipping solutions of UPS to our customer base in a simpler and more seamless fashion, and at very attractive new discounts,” said Ken McBride, Chairman and CEO of Stamps.com in the release. “We want to empower our customers, and we know that delivery speeds and competitive rates are an important factor for small business success.”
Shares in Stamps.com rode a major rally on the news as analysts applauded the partnership, especially in the wake of the USPS breakup. “We long mentioned a new partnership was needed to help lift shares and believe the UPS collaboration is a step in the right direction,” Darren Aftahi, an analyst at Roth Capital Partners, wrote in a research note per Bloomberg.
Aftahi added UPS discounts for Stamps.com and other partners are expected to be as much as 55% below daily rates, including surcharge waivers – a big deal considering how many accessorial charges get added to shipping bills.
