STAMPS.COM INTRODUCES iRETURN SERVICES FOR INTERNET MERCHANTS

Complete Multi-Carrier Shipping System to Manage Merchandise Returns Online for the 2000 Holiday Season

 

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – June 19, 2000 -Stamps.com(tm) (Nasdaq: STMP), the leading provider of Internet mailing and shipping services, today introduced iReturn™ Merchant Service and iReturn.com™, two Internet-based services developed to help online merchants efficiently and cost effectively manage large volumes of merchandise returns. The iReturn services will be available for the 2000 holiday shopping season.

“With the expertise Stamps.com has built around e-commerce and shipping, it is natural to leverage our technology throughout the supply chain and provide Internet merchants with a dynamic solution to one of their growing problems, reverse logistics,” said Kim Parks, senior vice president and general manager, Stamps.com E-Commerce Strategic Business Unit.

According to a Jupiter Communications October 1999 analyst report entitled, “Online Retail Returns Mirror Offline Patterns,” more than $7 billion of merchandise was shipped by e-tailers to U.S. consumers during the 1999 holiday shopping season. In another related Jupiter survey in which 2,000 Internet shoppers ranked their top 12 sources of dissatisfaction with e-commerce Web sites, the fifth-greatest concern was returning merchandise. Jupiter also found that 40 percent of those surveyed indicated they would buy more online if they could return items easily.

“Since shopping on the Internet has taken hold, every holiday season has earned a distinction based on real customer issues. Last year, fulfillment created nightmares for many e-tailers. As a result, this year online merchants are more prepared than ever for the surge in holiday shopping with elegant storefronts, solid inventory choice and streamlined fulfillment processes. However, many have yet to conquer the costly and frustrating customer experience related to returning and exchanging merchandise,” added Parks.

The iReturn services manage returns from customers after any online purchase. The services connect customers, e-tailers, shipping carriers, drop-off and pick-up locations and returned goods disposal sites with a sophisticated, real-time communications and information system. With the iReturn services, merchants will not only reduce costs and complexity associated with the logistics of returned merchandise, but customers will enjoy a much higher level of service.

iReturn Merchant Service

iReturn Merchant Service is for e-commerce sellers with annual sales of more than $25 million. This highly customized, privately branded, comprehensive online return management solution is seamlessly embedded into any major merchant’s Web site. It allows the merchant access to the shipping services of private and public carriers.

iReturn.com

iReturn.com is a destination site targeted for use by online merchants with under $25 million in annual sales. The iReturn.com site integrates Stamps.com co-branded return services, connectivity to all carriers and many of the features of the iReturn Merchant Service, but with faster and less costly integration.

Both iReturn services are built on Stamps.com’s multi-carrier rating, shipping, tracking, and postage engines, which support a complete national footprint of carrier services from United Parcel Service (UPS), U.S. Postal Service (USPS), FedEx, Airborne Express, Yellow Freight and DHL, offered by no other provider. The services are based on eXtensible Markup Language (XML), the Internet standard for data interchange and application interoperability.

About Stamps.com

Stamps.com™ provides the easiest, smartest way to mail or ship letters, packages or parcels anywhere, anytime. Stamps.com operates three business units focused on providing valuable e-services allowing 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.

###

“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, iReturn and the Stamps.com, iShip and iReturn logos are trademarks of Stamps.com Inc. All other brands and names are property of their respective owners.