Private delivery service beta testing on-demand mail and package delivery in Vancouver

A fledgling Uber-style company in Vancouver called ParcelPal Technology, is offering on-demand mail and package delivery on the lower mainland that would bypass Canada Post, particularly during what could be a strike or lockout starting as early as July 2. 

"The UBER style Android, iPhone and Web App enables everyday people to become couriers and earn extra cash by making a quick detour to pick up a package and drop it off near where they’re going anyway."

According to a story from CanadianInvestor, ParcelPal, a public company, is undergoing a beta trial to test whether there is an appetite for such a rapid delivery service and whether it might be rolled out nationally. A test, involving 20 letters, showed that virtually all of them were delivered under an hour for $4 each.  The system offers real-time tracking and no minimum order size. At the time of writing, the company's website says that 1,483 couriers had signed up and 596 packages had been delivered. 

(There was no specific indication about subscriber copy delivery for magazines. In 2006 a pilot project, supported in part by Canadian Heritage, was run by a consortium of major Canadian magazine publishers to test the possibility of having their magazines delivered to subscribers in major urban areas (such as the Greater Toronto area (GTA)) via independent newspaper contractors. At the time, it was found to be too expensive. In 2007, Rogers Media tried a similar pilot project of its own which ultimately was discontinued.)

Maybe it's time to take another look at alternative delivery

The largest printing company in the U.S., R. R. Donnelly, is looking at ways to provide alternative delivery of magazines in most major urban centres in the country. In an article in Publishing Executive, Thomas J. Quinlan, the CEO, says Donnelly is interested in a recent proposal in Congress that would allows periodicals, newspaper and unstamped mail to be placed in mailboxes on days when the US Postal Service (USPS) does not deliver. Right now, the USPS has a  monopoly on the nation's mailboxes. But it doesn't deliver Sundays and, pretty soon, it may not be doing Saturday deliveries either.

Now it makes a certain amount of sense for someone who depends in part on the mailing industry to look at gaining some advantage over other printers. The increases in the price of postage and the reductions in service open an opportunity.

“Look what USPS is doing to the mailing industry. It's just not sustainable. There's significant cost increases that they've put through. They're shifting cost to the players in the mailing industry, Quinlan said. “All these things, these are costs for the mailing industry that, quite frankly, we and other people like us have to go ahead and mitigate to our customers because our customers can't go ahead and aren't going to take the additional cost and look for people like us to, again, go ahead and mitigate those.” 

“You look at Ladies' Home Journal that was announced by Meredith earlier this week [would be shutting down]. I mean, 40 to 47 percent of their cost was related to postage. It was nothing to do with electronic content.”

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Bloomberg Businessweek signs alternative delivery deal with newspaper company Gannett

Faced with the possible (or likely) end of Saturday delivery by the USPS, usually used by weekly magazines in the U.S., Bloomberg Businessweek has struck a partnership with newspaper chain Gannett for alternate delivery to an additional 100,000 subscribers in 15 markets. 

According to Audience Development, the Gannett deal is an extension of something BBW was already doing, starting in 2010; some 350,000 subscribers in 21 markets now get their magazines delivered to them with the newspaper. By the end of this year the alternative model will be in use in 18 of the magazine's top 20 markets.

The alternative delivery doesn't save the magazine money, neither does it significantly change the production and delivery schedule, nor does it cost more than the post office. President Paul Bascobert said that wasn't the goal.

“We wanted to improve the service, its critical they [readers] get the news as soon as possible, especially in light of the possible USPS Saturday shutdown” he tells AD.

Many publishers, including a consortion of magazines in Canada, have looked closely at alternative or "expedited" delivery, using already existing networks of newspaper delivery contractors. One of the benefits is the ability to polybag the magazine and make money by carrying inserts.

“With expedited morning delivery we significantly shorten the time from the printing press to the doorstep” says Bascobert. When asked if other publishers should get on board with expedited morning delivery he emphatically says, “I don’t know why other publishers haven’t done this already. To me, it seems like a fairly natural thing to think through.”

Related posts:

• Bloomberg Business Week plunges ahead with alternative delivery 
• Bad news for U.S. periodicals: USPS business model said to be "not viable"
• Rogers mags to test alternative delivery

Toronto Star and Globe and Mail form joint distribution partnership

The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail have announced a partnership to distribute their newspapers -- and other print publications -- in Ontario. The partnership will deliver both the Star and the Globe to homes, businesses and retail outlets and will also distribute other newspapers and 3rd party products. The two companies will continue to operate separately in all other aspects including editorial, advertising, sales and production.

"We are very happy with the new joint venture with The Globe and Mail," said John Cruickshank, Publisher of the Toronto Star and President of Star Media Group. "It will allow both the Star and The Globe to bring together our distribution operations, resulting in savings for both companies and better service for our readers and advertisers."

"This partnership allows The Globe and Mail to benefit from blended operational best practices while still maintaining a direct and independent relationship with our valued subscribers and readers," said Phillip Crawley, Publisher and CEO of The Globe and Mail. "As our industry faces the reality of increasing distribution costs, this partnership model allows us to potentially expand our distribution footprint and implement consistent service standards across Ontario."

Both newspapers use adult independent contractors to deliver papers now. There will likely be the same sort of rationalization as took place in 2002 when major magazine wholesalers merged their truck delivery system into one fleet called ProLogix.

Interestingly, in 2006 a consortium of major magazine publishers commissioned a feasibility study testing the possibility of having their magazines delivered to subscribers in major urban areas (such as the GTA) via those same newspaper contractors. At the time, it was found to be too expensive. A year later, Rogers launched its own pilot project, but it was not ultimately successful. The partnership between rivals Globe and Star shows that times and circumstances can change, however. (Mentioned here before is the fact that I receive my copy of the Guardian Weekly delivered with my Globe and Mail every Thursday (better service than most GW subscribers get by mail).)

With the escalation of postal delivery costs, and this new partnership looking around for customers, some magazine publishers may consider anew how to get their issues into readers' hands in the most efficient and cost-effective way. 

The new partnership may also mean that some people who subscribe to both papers will only have one lout booming up their driveway at 4 a.m. and unnerringly throwing the bagged paper(s) against the garage door with the loudest possible bang.

Related posts:

• Postal back-to-work relieves publishers, but they need to be resolute about alternative delivery

Bloomberg Business Week plunges ahead with alternative delivery

In the wake of our recent post about the need for Canadian magazines to get cracking on alternative delivery comes word that Bloomberg Business Week magazine since December has been working on a strategy to get its magazine delivered by daily newspaper contractors in metropolitan markets. 

Right now, 9% (about 75,000) of the magazine's 860,000 circ is delivered this way, according to a story in Folio: and the company has plans to see 1 out of 3 issues (250,000) delivered this way by year's end. It's not just because of the cost of mailing, apparently, but because of the delivery problems with the USPS.

Right now, the weekly magazine achieves about a 60 percent cumulative delivery rate between Friday and Saturday with the Postal Service. The remainder of subscriber copies arrive sometime between Monday and Wednesday-the latest arriving almost a week after the issue ships.

By partnering with a major newspaper and/or a private carrier, the magazine has a guaranteed Friday delivery by 6 am.

Bloomberg Business Week's director of manufacturing and distribution identified regions where there was a combination of problems with delivery, sufficient entry points and congenial delivery partners. Though he declined to specify costs, he said that overall they were comparable with traditional delivery.

"I don't have a budget to increase my costs, I can tell you that." 

Customers are given the option to stay with postal delivery or take alternative Friday morning delivery and so far only .01% have asked to go back to mail delivery. The magazine is delivered in its own polybag, soft folded and handled separately from the newspaper. 

In Canada, smaller-scale example is set by the Guardian Weekly, which delivers some copies on Thursday mornings, bundled in a plastic bag with the Globe and Mail. (Previous to this , the mailed copy could sometimes arrive as much as five days late (it wasn't unheard of to receive two copies at once).