Why Saturday?
In an effort to reduce costs, the U.S. Postal Service has proposed cutting delivery service to five days per week by eliminating Saturday delivery. For a moment, let’s ignore the argument over whether the delivery days should be cut to five to ask another question: is Saturday the right day to cut?
While the Postal Service says Saturday has the lowest daily mail volume, it is the one day when most people are home to accept their mail. Some mail recipients say that Saturday is the delivery day they would least like to eliminate. Many periodicals and advertising mailers value Saturday above all other days because their customers have more time to read their magazines and ads and are more likely to act on them. Equally important, busy households are also available to accept packages—a competitive advantage the Postal Service has over the competition. Lastly, eliminating Saturday delivery could further crowd post offices with customers retrieving their packages.
Read MoreU.S. Mail: A Perpetual Duty
As America was expanding in the 1780s, the founding fathers realized that open access to secure and private communication among its dispersed citizens was critical to forming political groups and holding free elections without fear of retribution. The U.S. Constitution empowered Congress “to establish post offices and post roads,” the most common form of telecommunication (communication over a distance) in 1789. The founding fathers provided the necessary infrastructure to “bind” the growing nation together through communication and commerce. Thereby, the Post Office Department (now the U. S. Postal Service) was born.
In the late 1800s, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a case involving conflicting interest between two electric telegraph companies, stated a broad interpretation of Congress’ constitutional postal powers:
Read MoreThinking Outside The Envelope
A leading book on business strategy and innovation claims, “through innovation, business organizations can change the world.”
A 2010 study on global postal innovation by Capgemini states “there is a general tendency among all postal operators to diversify by investments outside their core business (mail, parcel),” especially into the logistics and financial services areas. Among European operators, Poste Italiane, Swiss Post, Deutsche Post DHL (Germany), and Austrian Post, in particular, have increased their share of non-core business.
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