UPS counting on small retailers to save Christmas

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UPS’s third-quarter results were released to Wall St today, with revenues declining from $14.29bn in the third quarter of 2014 to $14.24bn. However, profit was up from $1.21bn to $1.26bn with shipments growing by 1.9% to 1.1bn packages, led by US air products and European shipments. Now comes the interesting part of the year, and according this article by Reuters, we move into the peak shopping and home delivery season, which have been particularly challenging in recent years as the cost of delivering e-commerce purchases to households has increased incrementally. To mitigate these additional costs the company has sought to create its Access Point Network, an 8,000-strong web of local stores and locker locations across 100 cities where deliveries can be left if there is no one at home which will have “a dramatic impact on UPS’s ability to operate during the peak season”. Given how badly it misjudged demand in 2013 and 2014, it will find its performance under the microscope come this Christmas.