U.S. Postal Service targets small businesses with same-day delivery (chainstoreage.com)

The U.S. Postal Service will deliver more than 15 billion pieces of mail this holiday season. In the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, the Postal Service also expects to deliver 850 million packages, which is more than a 10 percent increase compared to the same period last year. “The Postal Service is well prepared to meet our customers’ needs during the holiday season, especially as demand for package deliveries continues to grow,” said Megan J. Brennan, Postmaster General and CEO. The Postal Service will be expanding its Sunday delivery operations to locations with high package volumes beginning Nov. 26. The Postal Service already delivers packages on Sundays in most major cities, and anticipates delivering more than 6 million packages on Sundays this December. Mail carriers will also deliver packages on Christmas Day in select locations. Click Read More below for additional information.

Urban Outfitters, Inc., a leading lifestyle products and services company which operates a portfolio of global consumer brands comprised of Anthropologie, BHLDN, Free People, Terrain and Urban Outfitters brands and the Food and Beverage division, today announced net income of $50 million and $62 million for the three and six months ended July 31, 2017, respectively. Earnings per diluted share were $0.44 and $0.54 for the three and six months ended July 31, 2017, respectively. Total Company net sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2018 were $873 million, a 2% decrease as compared to the same quarter last year. Comparable Retail segment net sales, which include the comparable direct-to-consumer channel, decreased 4.9%. Click Read More below for additional detail.

U.S. online sales will reach $794.50 billion this year, up 32.4% year-over-year and accounting for 14.4% of all retail spending. That’s according to eMarketer’s third-quarter forecast, which also predicts that E-commerce sales will reach 19.2% of all U.S. retail spending by 2024. The increase for 2020 is much higher than the 18.0% gain predicted in the company’s second-quarter forecast as consumers continue to opt for online shopping amid the pandemic. Online shopping is so strong that it will more than offset the 3.2% decline in brick-and-mortar spending this year, which will drop to $4.711 trillion, reported eMarketer. As a result, total U.S. retail sales in the US will remain essentially flat.