FedEx offers three main shipping methods: FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery, and FedEx SmartPost. Home Delivery allows 108” in length, 165” in length plus girth (considered L+2W+2H). It also showed that 51% of online shoppers are looking for free shipping and discounted shipping costs when choosing one retailer over another, making SmartPost a smart shipping choice for retailers. FedEx SmartPost versus FedEx Ground. FedEx Ground vs FedEx SmartPost. SmartPost packages take longer and do not come with a money-back guarantee. FedEx Ground (Shipping to a commerical address) business days are Monday through Friday (excluding holidays).FedEx Home Delivery (shipping to a Residence) business days are Tuesday through Saturday (excluding holidays). When it was initially introduced, this service did have some reliability issues. Shippers and customers like the service because it’s more cost effective than FedEx Home Delivery, but with the excellent tracking services and visibility provided by FedEx, for an optimal website experience. Domestic Express Freight services are subject to weekly adjustment based on the weekly published U.S. Gulf Coast (USGC) spot price for a gallon of kerosene-type jet fuel.*. The best part of SmartPost is the lack of a residential surcharge fee. It’s hard to know whether you’re getting the best deal and determining which ones deserve money back, for missing the time or day guarantee. Shipping costs are not just a line item – they can be a competitive advantage or a liability, so it pays to ensure that your company is getting the best prices while meeting customer expectations. It’s a win-win for all involved. Chris Hondros/Getty … Try out Shipware for 30 Days, completely free! FedEx SmartPost is cheaper than FedEx Ground, but there are some trade-offs. Shippers should plan for two to five days more than standard ground shipping, which in some cases could double transit times. For merchants on a Premium subscription with Returnly, our system can support the integration of your own FedEx SmartPost account for return shipping label generation. Estimates vary, but transit time is longer for SmartPost packages compared to FedEx Home Delivery. Historically, USPS completed the last mile delivery of these SmartPost packages. Both are FedEx products that deliver packages to residences. Although both SmartPost and SurePost began assessing Delivery Area Surcharges (DAS) in July 2013, the fee is only $.25 – significantly lower than the $2.15-$3.50 DAS charges for air and ground shipments. A full 42% of shoppers will choose the economy ground option, and 20% will choose the ground option, with SmartPost falling into the economy ground category. FedEx Ground. Cost is the greatest factor: SmartPost packages are usually the less expensive shipping costs option, but package size or other factors could affect pricing. The difference between FedEx SmartPost and FedEx Ground (which Returnly also supports) is that with FedEx Ground, FedEx controls the package the entire route, from pick-up to drop-off location. 1. One postal service advantage is that they can also deliver to post office boxes and military and diplomatic APO, FPO and DPO destinations. 7.) That customer cannot use FedEx Home Delivery. But other factors can affect how long delivery will take, too. Home Delivery Con: Home Delivery is only available in the 50 United States. The packages are then transported via the FedEx Ground shipping network. Some shippers like to run internal studies tracking the transit time for various services to different locations. In order for the FedEx SmartPost integration to be appropriately configured, we will need your team to reach out to support@returnly.com with the name of the Returnly instance you wish to integrate your FedEx SmartPost account with. In order to some of the required fields, please refer to this article.Timeframe. 12 Secrets of FedEx Delivery Drivers. While carriers are offering more overlapping options these days, there are still many differences between them, making one shipment a good fit for SmartPost because it’s disqualified for FedEx Home Delivery, and another a better fit for Home Delivery because of timing issues, for example. If Return Services are not enabled within both FedEx and EasyPost, then we will not be able to successfully generate return shipping labels. Estimates range from 1.5 extra days to five days for SmartPost. Shipping rates for FedEx Express (Domestic, US Export and US Import), FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery will increase an average of 4.9%. Here are some of the pros and cons of each. It may seem like large businesses get all the deals and discounts, given their high shipping volume and big spend. Send it SmartPost, and that fee disappears since FedEx isn’t actually making the residential final delivery themselves. SmartPost vs FedEx Ground. Shippers must add SmartPost into the contract in order to offer or use this service. Home Delivery will make Saturday deliveries in most areas, but only picks up Monday through Friday. 5 years ago. FedEx SmartPost time to deliver can be 2-5 days longer than ground or home delivery. Reduced shipping costs. Like FedEx Ground, the impact on the SmartPost product will remain unclear until the 2020 FedE Service Guide is released. The list of delivery area surcharge U.S. ZIP codes for FedEx Express, FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost will … FedEx SmartPost vs. You have to find new clients, keep current clients happy, source products and services, hire and onboard employees, ensure current employees are productive... Modal Optimization & Special Rate Programs. Home Delivery Pro: Delivery is faster than SmartPost, and guaranteed. The postal service mandate is daily delivery to almost every home in the United States, so it’s not much more work to deliver a package. The published rates for all 4 packages are the same, the base rate is $12.05. Fedex Ground is a ground service (everything is transported by roadways) while Smartpost is a service offered on small items which uses the USPS to make the final delivery once the package reaches the destination city. SmartPost Pro: FedEx tracking is available. Sometimes it’s worth the cost and sometimes it’s better to save a few dollars and add a few days to the final delivery time. A major revenue development was FedEx SmartPost (part of a FedEx ground service that uses Parcel Select). UPS SurePost and FedEx SmartPost can provide significant shipping savings over traditional ground services by eliminating hefty delivery area, residential, and Saturday delivery surcharges. SmartPost is available to businesses only, Monday through Saturday. While it is inexpensive, you cannot choose the time of day the package will arrive nor does it arrive as quickly as with FedEx Express Saver. With FedEx Home Delivery, FedEx controls the package the entire route, from pick-up to front-door. If we can’t offer you savings over what you’re paying and recovering now, we will give you $10,000. For comparison, USPS Retail Ground, which is equivalent service speed to SmartPost is $12.72. Home Delivery Pro: No Saturday delivery surcharge. Contrary to popular belief, Saturday delivery actually carries no surcharge, making this option more financially viable for shippers. SmartPost Con: No FedEx “on time or it’s free” guarantee. SmartPost Con: FedEx SmartPost does not pick up packages originating outside of the contiguous United States. Drop boxes fit your schedule with 24/7 drop-off for FedEx Express, FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost prelabeled shipments. If the customer is not going to be home for final delivery, the customer can schedule the package to be delivered to a FedEx location, even while it’s already en route. I ship several packages a day SmartPost. SmartPost … SmartPost Pro: 100% United States coverage. – FedEx Home Delivery is a service that averages roughly 2.5 days of transit time within the U.S., and is applicable when shipping to residences. Now even though SurePost and SmartPost provide similar services there are few things that they differ in, which makes the comparison easier. Home Delivery is guaranteed in 1 to 5 business days within the contiguous United States, and 3 to 7 business days to and from Alaska and Hawaii. Packages must be less than 70 pounds and nonurgent. Anonymous. FedEx Ground uses linehaul trailers to move these SmartPost pouches from city to city. Plus, you get the same package-status tracking that comes with all FedEx ® services. This is due to the additional shipper involvement once USPS takes over that last leg. To account for that, FedEx will usually offer more aggressive discounts and minimum reductions on their SmartPost pricing, usually found after the Ground and Home Delivery sections, with separate Weight and Earned Discounts for shipments rated by ounce and by pound. FedEx Freight will increase rates by an average of 5.9%. Once the Support team has received an email from your team and the account information via the form it can take up to two weeks for the integration record to be created, tested, and applied within your Returnly instance. Since FedEx isn't moving all of its SmartPost package volume away from the USPS, the product will likely remain intact without any changes. Claims can be made with the postal service, however, that’s a separate process. Domestic Express Freight) and the charge per pound for U.S. For FedEx, that pain point is home delivery, a more expensive, time consuming and challenge-filled prospect than delivering to commercial customers. First, delivery times are slower. The last mile of the delivery journey is actually the most expensive part of the process as orders might need to travel hundreds of miles between cities and rural areas or even across … Both FedEx and UPS are reducing the per-piece additional handling surcharge to $3. This is a big one! FedEx SmartPost takes up to 1.5 days longer than standard shipping with FedEx Ground. There are pros and cons to either one, as you can imagine, as it can involve differences in a variety of factors, with two examples being delivery speed and cost. Time-sensitive: FedEx Home Delivery promises 1-5 business day delivery time within the contiguous United States, or 3-7 business days to and from Alaska and Hawaii, and guarantees the final delivery date. Shipping Charges-Compared to standard charges by UPS and FedEx, you can easily save up to 20% on shipping charges compared to standard UPS and FedEx Shipping. If you do choose to leverage a Flat Rate fee, either per label or per return, the flat-rate amount will be reflected within the RMA Report. SmartPost does offer Saturday pick-up. The declared value for SmartPost packages is a maximum of $100. SmartPost is a last mile final delivery partnership between FedEx and the United States Postal Service (USPS). 3.) It is up to you to decide, if you haven't yet, which service you prefer, based on your customer's needs. SmartPost is typically more cost effective than FedEx Ground (up to 18% less) Because there is another carrier involved, SmartPost delivery times can be inconsistent; Because there is another carrier involved, FedEx cannot guarantee the package; Saturday delivery at no extra cost What’s the difference between FedEx Home Delivery and FedEx SmartPost? Choose 1-,2- or 3-day shipping for FedEx Express. FedEx SmartPost ® returns. Or select FedEx Ground for shipments to arrive in 1-5 business days. If you have more than 20 returns of low-weight packages a day, take advantage of FedEx SmartPost Returns. Both services offer Saturday delivery. The fuel surcharge percentage for FedEx Ground … Your customers will enjoy the convenience and you’ll enjoy the cost-effective, reliable solution. These features are not available for SmartPost. Saturday pick-up: FedEx Home Delivery does not pick up packages on Saturdays (it uses FedEx Ground service). FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery are completely different services which you can enable/disable dedicatedly using FedEx Rates, Labels and Tracking app. The other drawback is that shipping switches to the USPS from the FedEx system, making tracking packages a little more challenging for both the shipper and the receiver. Pricing is lower than conventional ground service. That said, SmartPost can do the deliveries. SmartPost Con: Damage and loss claims are not always available from FedEx. They are the newest shipping service listed (founded 1971), but their cheap estimates, packing and handling standards, and especially their large network of locations have made them a major competitor in the shipping industry. The FedEx SmartPost specific fields are below. Yes that will give a general idea of what one package costs to ship... Running a business is hard enough. Invoice audit and recovery services, like those offered by Shipware, can often save shippers up to 30% of their annual shipping spend, by automatically sending claims to the carriers for missed delivery times/dates, missing discounts, and total billing accuracy. Nor does Home Delivery include post office boxes or United States territories. How long does FedEx SmartPost take? The pilot was wildly successful with increased density volumes of 25-100%, dependent on the market. FedEx does not deliver to P.O. However, USPS and FedEx Ground modified their agreement in 2019, and FedEx Ground began serving the last mile delivery of SmartPost across the United States. Online shoppers expect not only ground service to be offered as a cost-effective shipping option, but economy ground as well, with 69% of shoppers expecting a choice including both services at check-out, according to the Pulse of the Online Shopper survey by UPS. 8.) As FedEx SmartPost uses USPS for residential delivery, you can enjoy the benefits that come with weekend delivery. The current rack rate for a residential surcharge via FedEx Home Delivery is $3.65 per package. The fuel surcharge percentage for FedEx Express ® services (excluding U.S. FedEx SmartPost®, Ground Multiweight, International Premium, FedEx One Rate and Retail Rates will also change, but this has not yet been announced. Estimates range from 1.5 extra days to five days for SmartPost. Fedex Smartpost Vs Ground. SmartPost Con: SmartPost takes longer than FedEx Home. All existing FedEx Ground customers, including FedEx Home Delivery customers, qualify for SmartPost. SmartPost Pro: No residential delivery surcharges. Parcel Select service avoids many costs typically associated with air and ground delivery including the Residential Surcharge, which is currently $3.20 (plus fuel surcharges), in addition to many other accessorial charges. In 2019, FedEx Ground ran a pilot in ten markets to have SmartPost packages delivered by their contracted Home Delivery couriers vs. having USPS complete the last mile. Declared value: If you want to declare a parcel value of more than $100, you’ll need to choose FedEx Home Delivery. Or select FedEx Ground for shipments to arrive in 1-5 business days. These labels will be billed directly to your payment method within FedEx at the time the label is scanned at drop-off. This is why UPS and FedEx will tack on delivery area and residential areas surcharges to your base ground rates. When it comes to making a choice between FedEx SmartPost vs. UPS SurePost, it’s important that eCommerce retailers have a clear understanding of what last-mile deliveries entail. You cannot use Home Delivery to send a package to someone in the foreign service or a soldier using an APO address, for example. There are lots of complaints online about longer delivery times with SmartPost vs. FedEx Ground. Additional services: FedEx Home Delivery allows additional services, such as FedEx Delivery Signature Options, Return Solutions, FedEx Delivery Manager, a money-back guarantee, collection on delivery, declared value, signature proof of delivery collection, and evening or appointment delivery times. SmartPost sizing is a maximum of 130” in length plus girth. SmartPost does have the advantage of PO box delivery, however. Smartpost is the hybrid delivery where FedEx carries the package to the destination city and gives it to the USPS. The USPS already delivers to nearly every residence in the country, so they can easily deliver FedEx packages along with the regular mail. SmartPost Con: SmartPost takes longer than FedEx Home. Home Delivery Pro: The package can be held at another location. 5.) FedEx SmartPost used FedEx for the long-distance transportation and used the US Postal Service for final delivery to residences until 2020. 1.) Fees: Both services offer Monday through Saturday delivery, but FedEx Home Delivery charges a residential delivery fee, while SmartPost does not. Alaska and Hawaii, along with the United States territories, are not served by SmartPost for pick-ups. It also takes longer to deliver, and while it offers unified tracking, customers still find it confusing. You can still use FedEx tracking to see where your SmartPost packages are at any given time, in spite of them switching carriers at the end. Drop boxes fit your schedule with 24/7 drop-off for FedEx Express, FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost prelabeled shipments. The shipments arrive at one of 34 FedEx destination hubs, where they’re sorted and brought to the local post service office or bulk mail center closest to the final delivery location. Choose 1-,2- or 3-day shipping for FedEx Express. The customer can also request delivery to a FedEx location instead of the residence. In conjunction with your outreach to the Support team, your team will need to fill out the Carrier Integration Form with the requested account information. From the FedEx website: Delivery Commitments FedEx SmartPost now delivers typically in 2-7 business days based on the distance to your destination. SmartPost typically delivers in 2-7 business days based on distance (note “typically” as the timing is not guaranteed). FedEx purchased the parcel consolidator Parcel Direct in September 2004 from Quad Graphics. This will ensure that customers are having their Refund Due amount reduced appropriately. Every FedEx SmartPost shipment comes with a 20-digit tracking number. It’s a helpful one to add in when giving customers shipping costs options, whether the shipper is offering free shipping or reduced shipping, or charging customers. Shipware can save money for 90% of shippers, and we offer a free shipping analysis. Size matters: Both services max out at 70 pounds per package. The survey showed that shoppers are looking for the best shipping costs. Because of this FedEx SmartPost label configuration merchants should ensure their Returns Policy for return shipping costs is configured to Free Returns or a Flat Rate (per Label) or Flat Rate (per Return) configuration, as seen in the screenshot below. 6.) Ground & Home Delivery – FedEx Ground is a service that averages roughly 2.5 days of transit time within the U.S., and is applicable when shipping to commercial locations. The transit time for that category is 5 to 7 days from purchase. FedEx SmartPost vs Home Delivery Comparison. Shipment Tracking. The carriers like it because it addresses a pain point. FedEx SmartPost is a service of FedEx that allows you to efficiently and cost-effectively ship low-weight packages to residential customers throughout the United States and its territories. FedEx SmartPost delivers packages 6 days a week, Monday-Saturday. 0 0. 4.) Here are the reasons why a shipper or a customer might choose one service over another. Please note that Returnly will not be invoicing you, the merchant, directly for the FedEx SmartPost labels generated through our system. Get the package delivered to the customer sooner, and it’s likely going to cost more money. They pick up parcels from the shipper’s location and sort them the same day at the FedEx distribution facility. Calculating shipping costs is not always as easy as plugging data into a shipping calculator. Shippers have to balance cost and time. SmartPost package surcharges include: non-machinable packages (parcels with dimensions between 27”+, any two dimensions greater than 17”, more than 35 pounds, cylindrical tube packaging); delivery area; balloon items (weighs more than 20 pounds, but measures 84” to 108” in length + girth); oversize items (measuring 84” to 130” in length + girth); package re-labeling for parcels requiring an over-label or hand keying; third party billing (billing to an account that’s not related to the shipper). From there the local US Post Office collects the package and sorts it to the mail carrier who will deliver it. Cost-effective delivery in 1-5 days to the continental United States and 3-7 days to Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, and Puerto Rico.