STAMPS.COM LAUNCHES NEW iSHIP SERVICE OFFERING TO AUTOMATE OFFICE-BASED SHIPPING
Internet-based Service Offers Central Management and Cost Control of
Shipping Processes Across the Corporation
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – June 14, 2000 – Stamps.com™ (Nasdaq: STMP), the leading provider of Internet mailing and shipping services, today launched the iShip™ service from its Enterprise Strategic Business Unit (SBU). The iShip Desktop and Professional Shipping Stations integrate seamlessly, giving employees the ability to process shipments from their desktop, while enabling employers to control costs by applying business rules across every desktop in the corporation.
“Before we implemented the iShip service, employees would have to complete a tedious manual process to ship packages and did so blindly without any knowledge of the costs involved,” said Christopher Seebeck, senior manager of administrative services, Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada. “Now with the iShip service, Sun Life is in a better position to negotiate carrier rates. For employees, everything is automated, enabling them to quickly print labels, track packages, and easily determine the least expensive shipping method. One of our employees saved $70 on shipping a single 17-inch monitor. Now that is significant.”
According to a Colography Group March 2000 study, there are 4.8 million businesses that ship by ground or air domestically and an estimated $45 billion spent on shipping. The Stamps.com application service provider (ASP) model allows corporate customers to rapidly deploy the iShip service via the Internet at a low cost by eliminating the need to install specialized carrier software, buy additional hardware or pay customized implementation fees. The iShip service creates a marketplace among all the carriers, managing customer’s pre-negotiated rates, carrier service specifications and other shipping data through business partnerships with the United Parcel Service, U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, Airborne Express, DHL and Yellow Freight.
“IDC is increasingly seeing Internet-delivered software, such as the iShip service, directed at solving enterprise problems quickly and cost-effectively,” said Andrew Goloboy, research manager at IDC. “Shipping costs are a significant line item on most enterprise’s budgets. Stamps.com customers using the iShip service have embraced the ASP model for easy access to applications for better tracking, management, and control of shipping costs. The predictable cost and minimal up-front resources associated with ASPs will also contribute to Stamps.com’s future growth in this market.”
iShip Service Offerings
The iShip Desktop Shipping Station provides employees across the corporation an easy-to-use Web-based interface to quickly pre-process mailroom shipments, compares prices across multiple shipping services, prints carrier labels and tracks shipments right from their desktop computer. The Desktop Shipping Station incorporates the stringent mailing and shipping business rules established by the customer’s shipping management and enforces these rules across every desktop in the corporation.
The iShip Professional Shipping Station allows personnel in mailrooms, express shipping centers and executive business centers to quickly process high volumes of shipments. The solution also offers reports on internal carrier activity and employee usage patterns, deterring shipping fraud and abuse while simplifying cost analyses. Additionally, mailroom managers can quickly process shipments previously created by employees.
“Companies have begun to realize the need for smart, cost effective shipping alternatives,” said David Duckwitz, senior vice president and general manager, Stamps.com Enterprise SBU. “Every corporation uses at least two carriers, typically the U.S. Postal Service and an overnight shipper. Many corporations use as many as seven or eight carriers to serve the full breadth of their needs. The iShip service allows companies to controls costs and creates order out of this complexity.”
The iShip Professional Shipping Station, currently being deployed to the more than 3,500 domestic Mail Boxes Etc. locations, has received certification as a Parcel Shipping Scale System under the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) National Type Evaluation Program. This certification notifies weights and measures inspectors nationwide that the iShip service is capable of meeting all required regulations stipulated in Handbook 44, Specifications, Tolerances, and Other Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring Devices, a reputed publication in the shipping industry.
“Stamps.com’s iShip service is the first commercially available Internet-based multi-carrier system and the only such application certified by NIST,” added Duckwitz.
Pricing and Availability
There are no up-front fees for the iShip service. Pricing is based on volume and is as low as $0.30 per transaction or package shipped. The iShip service is currently being deployed at numerous customer sites, including Sun Life Assurance Company and Mail Boxes Etc. The iShip Desktop and Professional Shipping Stations are commercially available today.
About Stamps.com
Stamps.com™ provides the easiest, smartest way to mail or ship letters, packages or parcels anywhere, anytime. Stamps.com operates three distinct business units focused on providing valuable e-services that allow small businesses, large corporations and e-commerce companies to control costs and efficiently manage their mailing, shipping and returns operations. Its business is anchored in key relationships with the U.S. Postal Service and United Parcel Service (UPS) and other carriers, including FedEx, Airborne Express, DHL and Yellow Freight. Stamps.com’s subsidiary, EncrypTix Inc., leverages its highly secure, patented technologies enabling companies to provide value-bearing documents like tickets, coupons and certificates over the Internet to consumers. Stamps.com International will extend the company’s reach into foreign markets. Visit sdcmainprod.wpengine.com for more information.
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“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, are detailed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission made from time to time by Stamps.com, including its annual report on Form 10-K/A for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1999 and its quarterly report on form10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2000. Stamps.com undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Stamps.com, iShip, and the Stamps.com and iShip logos are trademarks of Stamps.com Inc. All other brands and names are property of their respective owners.