UPS Holiday Surcharge Could Drive ‘Buy Online, Pick Up In Store’ Strategy This Christmas

Here’s a good reason to shop brick and mortar next Christmas: UPS is adding a shipping surcharge for orders delivered to residences at peak times during the holiday shopping season.

The shipping giant is introducing the surcharges for the first time ever to cover increased investments in hiring as the tide of online package volume continues to rise. Last year, the average daily shipment volume at UPS during the holiday shopping season exceeded 30 million packages. That’s about 50 percent more to ship than on non-peak days. UPS hired around 95,000 seasonal employees to manage the influx of shipments and to help with logistics.

Chain Store Age predicts that news of the surcharge could encourage more retail shoppers to opt for a BOPIS strategy — that’s “buy online, pick up in store.” Many retailers with a dual presence online and in brick-and-mortar locations offer this alternative order ahead, in-store pickup delivery method.

Still want to ship your gifts at the end of the year? A $0.27 surcharge will be added to every package on UPS ground service from Nov. 19 through Dec. 2 and Dec. 17 through Dec. 23. On the latter dates, residential and oversize or overweight packages could face surcharges as high as $0.97 for two-day air service.

“Our goal is to help every customer obtain the delivery capacity they need, combined with predictable and timely service they count on from UPS, even when there is limited capacity in the UPS network,” said Alan Gershenhorn, UPS chief commercial officer.