Pitney Bowes Adds Capacity, Will Raise Rates 6% in 2022

Pitney Bowes has geared up for the expected surge in holiday shipping and announced today it will raise its ecommerce rates for 2022.

Pitney Bowes will institute a 5.9% general rate increase for ecommerce services effective January 2, 2022. “The pricing program continues the company’s commitment to providing ecommerce shippers with simple, easy to understand rates and services,” it said in a press release on Monday.

The 5.9% rate increase applies to the following services:

• Standard Delivery of parcels weighing 1 pound or more through the Pitney Bowes US domestic network.
• Standard Returns through the Pitney Bowes US domestic network.
• Cross-Border Delivery to 207 countries and territories with bundled quoting and compliance services.

A spokesperson told EcommerceBytes Pitney Bowes also plans to further expand capacity and add thousands of seasonal warehouse associates and drivers to meet ecommerce demand for the peak holiday shipping season.

Since the peak 2020 period, Pitney Bowes has made a series of investments to become better equipped for increased holiday demand, she said, including the following:

• New Ecommerce Hubs: Opened four new facilities in Boston, MA, Columbus, OH, Seattle, WA, and Dallas, TX, adding thousands of new workers across the country with competitive wages.
• Automation Solutions: Working with Ambi Robotics, deployed AmbiSort, a configurable, AI-powered robotic sorting system that handles millions of unique parcels on day-one, in its facilities.
• Advanced Technological Capabilities: Improved tracking and visibility of parcels within its network and increased use of machine learning and data science to project estimated delivery dates more accurately.
• Investment in Fleet: Expanded Pitney Bowes-owned transportation fleet.

Pitney Bowes said it has expanded its Global Ecommerce business significantly in recent years, growing it from a single service and a single client in 2012 to providing fulfillment, delivery, returns and cross-border services to hundreds of retail and marketplace clients today. The business unit generated $1.6 billion in revenue in 2020.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.