Unit Sales Fell 5.6% Last Week (publishersweekly.com)

FY2023 first quarter service performance scores covering October 1 through October 7 included: *First-Class Mail: 93.2 percent of First-Class Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, consistent with performance from the fiscal fourth quarter. *Marketing Mail: 95.4 percent of Marketing Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, an increase of .7 percentage points from the fiscal fourth quarter. *Periodicals: 88.1 percent of Periodicals delivered on time against the USPS service standard, an improvement of 1.1 percentage points from the fiscal fourth quarter.

UPS announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Happy Returns from PayPal. Happy Returns is a U.S.-based software and reverse logistics company that enables frictionless, no-box, no-label returns for merchants and consumers. “We know that returns have long frustrated shoppers and retailers looking for quick and easy solutions,” UPS CEO Carol B. Tomé said. “By combining Happy Returns’ easy digital experience and established drop-off points with UPS’s small package network and footprint of close to 5,200 The UPS Store locations, box-free, label-free returns will soon be available at more than 12,000 convenient locations in the U.S.” “Joining the UPS team is a win for both our employees and our customers,” said Happy Returns CEO and co-founder David Sobie, who will continue to lead the business for UPS after the deal closes. “In recent years, the growth of Happy Returns has accelerated, and we’ve built an enterprise-grade solution. This new chapter is a natural next step for Happy Returns and allows us to harness the power of the UPS network to transform the returns industry.”

Total revenues across all categories for July 2023 were down 10.9% as compared to July 2022, coming in at $902.6 million. Year-to-date revenues were down 0.9%, at $6.5 billion for the first seven months of the year. Trade (Consumer Books) revenues were down 5.9% in July, coming in at $599.1 million. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of July, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were down 1.6%, coming in at $165.8 million; Paperbacks were down 11.9%, with $232.1 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 31.3% to $10.2 million; and Special Bindings were down 3.5%, with $16.0 million in revenue.