Services

US Postal Service Online Sales Top $1 Billion

Thinkstock

In the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) generated sales totaling more than $1 billion from its online store. Total post office revenues for the fiscal year were nearly $69 billion.

The relatively small portion of total revenues is due to combination of factors. Most of the services offered online do not generate revenues: package tracking, scheduling a pickup, hold or forward mail and estimating postage costs. Revenue is generated by sales of stamps, premium forwarding services and printing shipping labels for domestic and international package shipments.

For the 2015 holiday season, the USPS expects to deliver more than 15.5 billion cards, letters, flats and packages. In addition, it is projecting that approximately 600 million packages will be delivered between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve — an increase of 10.5% over 2014 volume.

The USPS is also offering real-time delivery notifications. Customers who sign up for alerts at the USPS website can receive an email or text notification for select packages within a few minutes of the delivery scan.

The postal service has posted a list of mail-by dates for this year at its website. Tuesday, December 8, for example, is the USPS deadline for shipping packages first-class international service to all international destinations except those in Africa and Central and South America. For those regions, Tuesday is the USPS deadline for getting packages delivered by Priority Mail Express International service.

Take Charge of Your Retirement: Find the Right Financial Advisor For You in Minutes (Sponsor)

Retirement planning doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. The key is finding professional guidance—and we’ve made it easier than ever for you to connect with the right financial advisor for your unique needs.

Here’s how it works: 

1️ Answer a Few Simple Questions

Tell us a bit about your goals and preferences—it only takes a few minutes!

2️ Get Your Top Advisor Matches

This tool matches you with qualified advisors who specialize in helping people like you achieve financial success.

3️ Choose Your Best Fit

Review their profiles, schedule an introductory meeting, and select the advisor who feels right for you.

Why wait? Start building the retirement you’ve always dreamed of. Click here to get started today!

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.

AI Portfolio

Discover Our Top AI Stocks

Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.

You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.