Most retailers don’t have to worry about slower mail delivery — but they do have to worry about this

By MixDex Article may include affiliate links

You may have heard that the U.S. Postal Service is increasing the amount of time it takes for some deliveries — though this isn’t what most online retailers should be worried about.

The (partially) good news is that this won’t affect many ecommerce shipments of products bought online since it largely affects only first class mail and periodicals.

First class mail caps out at 13 ounces for parcels, so it’s often not a good choice for shipping products and periodical rates are only available for qualified newspapers, magazines and other regularly published printed material.

According to USPS analysis, delivery time for first class mail will increase an average of 39% and periodicals 93%. First class mail traveling farther distances will be hit harder.

While this certainly won’t affect many online retailers, it will still affect some, so it’s probably a good idea to double check the shipping timelines you’re quoting customers if you use first class mail.

What will affect many retailers, however, is the Oct. 3, 2021, holiday “surge” increase.

The USPS announced this increase earlier this year and runs through Dec. 26, 2021 — so it could have an impact on Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping.

All this comes at a time when retailers are struggling with higher costs for products, labor and shipping.