Postal and Parcel Industry: Consumer Travel Insights to
USPS, FedEx, and UPS Locations

December 7, 2021

After gifts are purchased and wrapped, a big part of the holiday shopping season is mailing packages to family and friends. In 2020, post offices saw a historic surge due to e-commerce orders in addition to consumers shipping packages directly to family or friends. Some post office closures and mailroom staffing shortages also impacted mail service for people living in the U.S. This season, brick and mortar shopping rebounded to pre-pandemic levels and online dipped a bit (per The NPD Group); further supporting the notion consumers will be shipping gifts directly. Beyond the holiday season, care packages and letters have become a way for people to stay connected, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. With the growing demand for shipping services, it’s critical for leading brands in the postal and parcel industry to gain a deeper understanding of their consumers and use these insights to enhance their customer experience.  

Part of the customer journey for consumers shipping packages is going to a physical location or retail store. Are consumers traveling farther to send packages and mail? To answer this question, we analyzed how far consumers travel to visit USPS offices, FedEx stores, and UPS locations for postal and parcel services.

A postal worker scans packages for intake.

United States Post Office (USPS)

Consumers in Wyoming travel the farthest to visit a USPS post office. Like Wyoming, visitors to New Mexico and South Dakota USPS locations also travel greater distances. Visitors to USPS locations in Alaska, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania didn’t travel as far to get to a local USPS office. With this information, the USPS might consider opening more offices in states where people have to travel long distances to pick up their mail or send packages.

Median distance traveled to USPS offices.

The UPS Store

Visitors to UPS stores in North Dakota travel significantly farther compared to the rest of the U.S. Visitors to UPS stores in Hawaii and Kentucky also travel longer distances. Where did consumers travel the shortest distances to UPS stores? Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington D.C. are areas of the U.S. where consumers don’t travel as far to take their packages to a UPS Store.

Median distance traveled to UPS stores.

FedEx

Visitors to FedEx offices in Vermont, Mississippi, and Connecticut all travel farther. Interestingly, consumers in Hawaii don’t travel as far to get to a FedEx location. Why could this be the case? It could be that FedEx has a bigger brand presence than its competitors on the islands. Like Hawaii, visitors to South Dakota and Montana also don’t travel as far to visit the nearest FedEx.

Median distance traveled to FedEx stores.

Consumers Travel Farther to UPS Stores in the U.S.

This year, consumers across the country are traveling farther to UPS stores than to FedEx locations or USPS offices. Furthermore, in 2021, the median distance traveled to UPS stores was 5% higher compared to 2019. USPS saw the biggest change from 2019 to 2021; the median distance that consumers travel to get to a USPS location is 37% lower in 2021 than in 2019. FedEx didn’t see quite as big of a shift in consumer travel as USPS with the median distance traveled by consumers 23% lower in 2021 than in 2019. 

Percent change median distance traveled to FedEx offices, UPS stores, and USPS post offices.

A Solution to Reduce Consumer Travel: Open New Locations

Digital transformation as well as various effects of the pandemic are changing the ways consumers mail and ship packages. To stay ahead of consumer trends, brands in the postal and parcel industry must determine the best way to expand their physical location presence while complementing their digital experiences. Site selection analytics, driven by real-world consumer insights, can provide delivery service companies with the data they need to identify the best areas for new store locations.

For more information on how delivery service and postal companies can use location intelligence for consumer insights, speak with an expert at Gravy Analytics. 

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