The service, "UPS My Choice," will launch Oct. 3 and notifies customers who sign up for it by text message, email or phone call at some point the day before they receive a package. There is no charge for the notification.
If a customer won't be around during the four-hour time window provided by UPS, he or she can authorize release of packages requiring a signature online for free. For a $5 fee, the customer can reschedule the delivery, reroute the package to another address or have it delivered to a UPS store.
UPS is also launching a paid version of the service which, for a $40 annual fee, lets customers select a four-hour time window for an unlimited number of deliveries. For an extra $5 per delivery, they can choose a two-hour window. Premium customers also gain access to a dashboard tracking their incoming deliveries and can leave drivers instructions such as "leave by the front door" or "leave with a neighbor," using a drop-down menu.
You can already ask UPS to deliver to another address or reschedule a delivery day for a $5 fee. The big change for the average consumer with a free "UPS My Choice" account will be the advanced delivery notifications.
"We're making missed delivery notices extinct, a thing of the past," says UPS chief sales and marketing officer Alan Gershenhorn (note the UPS-delivery-slip dinosaur that will be featured in marketing campaigns).
UPS has reason to hope so. Multiple attempts at delivery cost the company much unnecessary gas, manpower and money as it delivers packages to more than 100 million homes every year. Online shopping continues to drive that number higher.