As the country slowly emerges from the COVID pandemic and the end of 2021 approaches, people are eager to celebrate the holidays with friends and family. Life is back to normal in many places, and that’s excellent news for online sellers! To capitalize on this moment, online retailers should start your holiday sales promotions early this year. Continue reading to learn why.

2021 E-commerce Sales Are Already Up 9% Over 2020
The numbers over recent months clearly indicate that shoppers are ready to buy online. According to Adobe’s Digital Economy index, consumers spent $541 billion online between January 2021 and August 2021. That’s 9% more than the same period last year and 58% more than 2019.

Online sales in November and December are expected to grow at least 7% from a year ago. And the National Retail Federation is expecting a record year for both online and brick and mortar sales in Q4 2021.

Problems in the Supply Chain
Q4 does have some challenges. Cargo ships sit offshore, waiting to be unloaded. There’s a shortage of truck drivers and warehouse workers. Railroad terminals are backed up with goods waiting for transport. Shipping carriers are preparing to deal with a record number of e-commerce packages. Seemingly every link in the supply chain is experiencing its own problems.

Because of continuing supply chain problems, shoppers were already being advised in late summer to buy early. Both the shortage of goods and the extended time required for shipping and delivery mean that last-minute shoppers may be left without much to give at holiday time.

The Answer – Run Your Holiday Sales Promotions Early
Retailers, both online and brick and mortar, typically have their biggest sales promotions of the year during Thanksgiving weekend for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Green Monday to kick start their holiday sales. But 2021 is different – e-commerce sellers MUST start encouraging buyers to purchase early this year. And there is no better way to get sales moving than by running those Black Friday deals early this year. Getting customers to buy early will get product into their hands quickly while eliminating last minute inventory or delivery issues.

4 Easy Sales Promotional Ideas
Given the uniqueness of this year’s holiday season, how can you promote your products? Here are a few sales promotions that work well:

#1 Start an abandoned cart email campaign: An abandoned cart occurs when a potential buyer views your store and places a product in the shopping cart, but then leaves your site without making the purchase. Stats show that 7 out of 10 customers will leave a store shipping cart without making a purchase. Recapturing these customers could equate to big revenue. And a great way to recapture these customers is to use a personalized email highlighting the products that are still waiting in the shopping cart for them. You can even help give them a nudge by offering a coupon code for free shipping or a percentage off the sale.

#2 Create coupons and discount codes: Speaking of coupon codes, this is a great method to help provide an immediate incentive to the buyer to make a purchase. Ideas include free shipping, 10% or 20% off the retail price, Buy One Get One and flash sales (short sales, typically for a few hours). Buyers can easily input the coupon code during check out and have the discount applied to their order in the cart. Nearly all shopping cart platforms allow you to easily make coupon codes. Don’t forget – along with posting coupon codes on the site, advertising and in email, you can also send them out via SMS text messages.

#3 Bundle Best Selling Products with High Margin Products: Bundling products is a great way to increase average order value. The idea is to package a few different products together as a “bundle” and then sell the bundle package at a lower price than if you bought them all separately. For reference, the combo at your local fast food restaurant is a great example of how bundling increases the average order value. Typically, you want to make sure the bundle package all has complimentary products (i.e. cell phone case to go with the cell phone) and includes a high selling product (to catch the buyer’s attention) along with a high margin product (to help you make profit).

#4 Run after-Christmas sales to increase profits: Don’t forget, the holiday sales don’t need to stop just because December 25th has come and gone. Retailers often have extra inventory from products that were not as popular as you anticipated. Plus, some buyers could have received cash or gift cards for Christmas. A good after-Christmas sale gives them a opportunity to use those gift cards!

Good luck and happy sales this holiday season!

Rate Advisor is a new tool built into Stamps.com that helps you find the lowest shipping rate for every package you ship. The feature lets you instantly compare shipping rates and delivery times across different carriers using all of your relevant package information such as destination address, package weight and box size.

Instantly compare rates and delivery times across different carriers and services.

• Filter by carrier, delivery speed, price and more
• Simply select the best option and print your label
• Never overpay for shipping again
• Includes all of our amazing discounted rates from USPS and UPS
• Built right into Stamps.com, nothing to download
• Super easy to use

How to Use Rate Advisor from the MAIL tab:

#1 In the MAIL Tab, prepare a shipment. Enter the Name and Ship to Address, Weight, and Dimensions, just as you would for any shipment. Then, open the Service or Carrier drop down menu and Click “Compare Services and Rates…”

#2 Rate Advisor will open in a new window. The shipment information (destination city, weight and box size) you entered is displayed at the top of the window. The Shipping Options and Carriers you have enabled are displayed, with the lowest price at the top.

Rate Advisor offers 3 different ways to display Shipping Options:

• Recommended: our default setting for the most compatible shipping options
• Cheapest: the lowest cost but the package may take longer to arrive
• Fastest: the most expensive option but gets your package to the destination the quickest. Great for Expedited Shipping.

#3 Select your shipping choice (between Recommended, Cheapest or Fastest) at the top of Rate Advisor window. A new window will appear to confirm your shipping service choice and carrier. Select “Yes” or “No.”

#4 After confirmation, your selected Carrier and Service are automatically displayed in your ship order and you are ready to print your shipping label.

How to use Rate Advisor from the ORDERS tab:

#1 In ORDERS, prepare a Manual Order. Enter the Name and Ship To Address, Package Weight, and Box Dimensions, just as you would for any shipment. Then, open the Carrier drop down menu and Click “Compare Services and Rates…”

#2 Rate Advisor will open in a new window. The shipment information (destination city, weight and box size) you entered is displayed at the top of the window. The Shipping Options with Carriers you have enabled and Services are displayed, with the lowest price at the top.

Similar to the MAIL tab, RATE ADVISOR offers 3 different ways to display Shipping Options:

• Recommended: our default setting for the most compatible options.
• Cheapest: the lowest cost but the package may take longer to arrive.
• Fastest: the most expensive option but gets your package to the destination the quickest. Great for Expedited Shipping.

#3 Select your shipping choice (between Recommended, Cheapest or Fastest) at the top of Rate Advisor window. A new window will appear to confirm your shipping service choice and carrier. Select “Yes” or “No.”

#4 After confirmation, your selected Carrier and Service are automatically displayed in your ship order and you are ready to print your shipping label.

Start using Rate Advisor today to find the lowest shipping rate to meet your delivery requirements!

The USPS has announced they will be reducing the size of some free Priority Mail boxes and envelopes. Two Priority Mail envelopes and six Priority Mail boxes will be getting smaller, with the reductions ranging from 1/8″ smaller in length on the Priority Mail Tyvek envelope to 2 1/2″ smaller in width on the Priority Mail Regional Rate Box B.

The USPS states these changes are being made to help process Priority Mail boxes and envelopes more efficiently on their sorting equipment, reducing the need for manual package sortation.

Priority Mail Box Size Changes

Item	Service	USPS Store SKU	OLD Outside Dimensions	NEW Outside Dimensions	Summary of Change
Envelope	Priority Mail Tyvek Envelope	EP14	11-5/8” (W) x 15-1/8” (L)	11-5/8” (W) x 15” (L)	Length of envelope is getting smaller by 1/8"
Envelope	Priority Mail APO/FPO Tyvek Envelope (Mili-Pac)	MILIPAC	11-5/8” (W) x 15-1/8” (L)	11-5/8” (W) x 15” (L)	Length of envelope is getting smaller by 1/8"
Box	Priority Mail Large Flat Rate Box	LFRB	6” (H) x 12-1/4” (W) x 12-1/4” (L)	6” (H) x 12” (W) x 12-1/4” (L)	Width of box is getting 1/4" smaller
Box	Priority Mail APO/FPO Large Flat Rate Box	MILIFRB	6” (H) x 12-1/4” (W) x 12-1/4” (L)	6” (H) x 12” (W) x 12-1/4” (L)	Width of box is getting 1/4" smaller
Box	Priority Mail	0-1092 Box	2-7/8” (H) x 12-1/4” (W) x 13-11/16” (L)	2-7/8” (H) x 12” (W) x 13-11/16” (L)	Width of box is getting 1/4" smaller
Box	Priority Mail	0-1095 Box	3-1/8” (H) x 12-1/2” (W) x 15-5/8” (L)	3-1/8” (H) x 12’ (W) x 15” (L)	Width of box is getting 1/2" smaller, length getting 5/8" smaler
Box	Priority Mail Regional Rate Box B	RRB-B2	3” (H) x 14-1/2” (W) x 16-1/4” (L)	3” (H) x 12” (W) x 15” (L)	Width of box is getting 2 1/2" smaller, length is getting 1 1/4" smaler
Box	Priority Mail	Box 7	8-1/2” (H) x 12-1/4” (W) x 12-1/4” (L)	8-1/2” (H) x 12” (W) x12-1/4” (L)	Width of box is getting 1/4" smaller

Online retailers who have extra stock of the older box sizes will still be able to use the USPS free shipping supplies until their boxes and envelopes are exhausted. The new box sizes started shipping from the USPS.com site in late September 2021.

Starting July 1, 2021, all commercial goods destined for the European Union (EU) are subject to Value Added Tax (VAT). This applies to deliveries of any value, including those below 22 euros (estimated $26).  To help online retailers manage this tax collecting process, the EU member countries created the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS), an electronic portal for online retailers to comply with the new VAT rules.  After registering for an IOSS  account, you will receive an IOSS tax identification number which should be inputted on all Customs Forms for your packages.

First 90 Days – How is the IOSS Working?
Stamps.com Customer Care has been monitoring the deliveries to the EU very closely since July 1, 2021.  Overall, most packages have included the new IOSS information and packages are being delivered.   We have discovered some shippers are inputting VAT/IOSS information incorrectly in the Stamps.com software interface, which is creating unnecessary duty and tax bills for shipments. 

Customer Care has also noticed many shippers are NOT inputting IOSS numbers on low value orders, which is now required.  This action pushes the responsibility of delivery fees, duties and taxes to the package recipient.  If the recipient does not want to pay these extra charges, the package will be returned to sender.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR INPUTTING VAT/IOSS NUMBERS INTO CUSTOMS FORMS USING STAMPS.COM

Stamps.com Software

1) From the “International” tab, input the delivery address and package details.
2) In the “Customs” section, please click on the “Edit Form”.
3) Input your IOSS tax identification number in the designated field.  Finish by clicking “Add Item” (on far right side) and then “OK”

Stamps.com Website

#1 Input the international delivery address and select the carrier info for the label.
#2 In the “Contents” section, click on “Customs Form” button.
#3 Input your IOSS tax identification number in the designated field. Finish inputting the item description and click “Add item”.

Important information to remember:

• For orders being delivered to the United Kingdom, “IOSS #” field will be labeled “VAT #” in the Customs Form.
• If you are selling through a marketplace, such as eBay or Amazon, be sure to include that marketplace’s IOSS number in the Customs Form. If you do not, the receiving EU country will assume VAT has not been collected.

Learn more about the European VAT requirements that started July 1, 2021.

9/15/2021 Update: The USPS has temporarily suspended Priority Mail International shipments to Australia as of September 17, 2021. To avoid disruption, use GlobalPost Standard or Priority Mail Express International to ship your packages to Australia. Get more info on GlobalPost Standard

The U.S. Postal Service has TEMPORARILY suspended First Class Package International Service (as of September 3, 2021) and Priority Mail International (as of September 17, 2021) delivery to Australia due to carrier issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Priority Mail Express International delivery is not being impacted and mailpieces will continue to be delivered.

If your First Class Package International Service parcel is already in transit, the international carriers will endorse the items as “Mail Service Suspended — Return to Sender” and then place the package in the mail stream for return. The USPS will provide a full refund of the shipping costs paid when service to the country of destination is suspended.

Alternate Delivery Options to Australia
If you have a shipment you need to send to Australia during this suspension period, we recommend the following options:

• UPS International Shipping – get discounted rates up to 76% off with no peak surcharge

• USPS Priority Mail Express International – get discounted rates up to 7% off Post Office rates

• GlobalPost International Standard – Get door-to-door tracking capabilities to over 200 countries

What is GlobalPost International Standard?
GlobalPost International Standard uses a network of postal carriers which provides a similar service to First Class Package International Service at a lower rate.  If you don’t see GlobalPost International Standard as an option in your Stamps.com shipping software, contact Customer Care at 1-888-434-0055 (open Monday to Friday, 6 am to 6 pm PT) to request access to GlobalPost carrier services.