Shipping Made simple

QuickView of UPS Mobile for iPhone

UPS recently released a free UPS Mobile application for the iPhone which provides a strong base feature set to users who are shipping or receiving packages. Unlike the FedEx Mobile solution, users are not required to create an account with the carrier, but it’s highly suggested so that you can take advantage of the full functionality.

Tracking
No doubt Tracking will be the primary use of this application. Creating an account allows you to see any of your shipments created on the ups.com website as well as any past shipments that were tracked.

For tracking shipments coming to you – we suggest using iPhones copy/past function on the track number from your notification email subject instead of the tracking link. (see below)

Shipping
We think the jury is still out on shipping from the iPhone, but integration with the ups.com address book will greatly simplify the need to create on-the-go shipping labels. While you can’t print from the phone, the shipping label is conveniently delivered as a PDF attachment in email which can be printed back at the desktop.

Drop Off Locator
One of the handiest features has got to be the drop off locator. It has the ability to find the closest drop off based on your current GPS location, or from a manually entered zip code. You can then narrow down your drop off selection by type. This will surely help for those times when you need some assistance boxing up your item, or finding a location that can accept your package that’s to large for a drop box.

Shipping Quote
Another handy tool is the Quick Quote. By entering in the origin and destination information along with the rate, you can quickly see time in transit or estimated cost.

Version 1.0
While we have a laundry list of features that we’d like to see added or enhanced, this truly is a very solid v1.0 release. As of this posting, the App store currently rates the app at 3.5 stars from just 279 ratings, however posted feedback is very complimentary. Based on the fact that FedEx Mobile for the iPhone has almost 13,000 customer ratings, it seems that there is a lot of customer demand for robust functionality from mobile devices. USPS is expected to release a iPhone application in the upcoming weeks, so the race is on!

Congratulations to the UPS mobile team!

Posted on November 9th, 2009 in Our Partners, Tools & Tips | 0 Comments

UPS officially releases iPhone App, touts Mac Support

On the heels of the Apple App Store release last week, UPS posted a press release regarding their UPS Mobile application for the iPhone.

We’ll be posting a full review of UPS Mobile for the iPhone later this week, but it provides a full range of services including shipping, and does not require the user to create a UPS account in order to utilize basic functionality.

Mention is also made of NRGship, our Mac OS compatible desktop shipping application which fully supports UPS technologies.

Ship from your UPS.com Address book

Posted on November 3rd, 2009 in Our Partners, Uncategorized | 0 Comments

FedEx launches infomercial spoof

FedEx has launched five, 3-minute web-exclusive videos featuring Fred Willard (Anchorman, A Mighty Wind, Best in Show) in a series of entertaining, informative infomercial send-ups called, “1,2,3 Succeed!”

Posted on July 21st, 2009 in Our Partners, Shipping Humor, Uncategorized | 0 Comments

Lunch with Jordan Coletta

About a year ago, we were down in Atlanta at UPS and had the opportunity to have lunch with Jordan Coletta who is vice president of customer technology marketing for UPS.

We credit Jordan with assisting us in educating NRGship customers that they don’t need to provide an End of Day report to their UPS Driver.  More for those who don’t know this here.  It was Jordan’s idea to have our software print out this notice after a customers first shipment is processed using NRGship. Thanks Jordan!

NRG is a strategic level partner in the UPS Ready program which Jordan oversees.  UPS has recently announced upgrades to the program and Jordan joined Practical eCommerce’s Kerry Murdock to discuss those upgrades.  Take a listen.. If you hang in to the 12:00 minute mark, he makes a mention of NRG.  Thanks again Jordan!

Posted on March 10th, 2009 in On the Road, Our Partners | 0 Comments

Just Like Pizza

FedEx recently announced that they’ve improved package trackability. We couldn’t help but notice that it looks strikingly similar to the “Patented” Pizza Tracker at Dominos. 

FedEx Tracking Progress

Dominos Tracking Progress

Tasty indeed!

Posted on January 26th, 2009 in Our Partners, Shipping Humor | 0 Comments