UPS rolls out new addition to its My Choice product offerings

Earlier this week, UPS introduced a new addition to its UPS My Choice service, entitled Follow My Delivery.

UPS My Choice gives consumers a one-day alert for when a package is coming and allows them to control the timing and location of the delivery. It helps both the consumer and UPS, because it makes it unlikely that UPS will not be able to make a delivery on the first stop or make multiple attempts to deliver a package. UPS My Choice debuted in 2011 and is used by more than 22 million U.S.-based UPS My Choice members that can track the progress of their UPS Air and UPS Worldwide Express packages on a live map through mobile devices or computers.

And UPS said Follow My Delivery is a service that offers unprecedented flexibility, convenience and visibility on the day of delivery, with its Follow My Delivery map feature that enables delivery recipients to have a detailed view of where their package is located when it is out for delivery.

“We have continually improved the industry’s most powerful tool of its kind and today we made it even better,” said Teresa Finley, UPS Chief Marketing Officer, in a statement.  “Follow My Delivery is the latest example of how we use technology to improve the ecommerce consumer delivery experience from the point of purchase to the time of delivery.”

The rationale for rolling out Follow My Delivery was to give UPS My Choice members an even better experience, especially for their most urgent deliveries, according to Bill Smith, UPS vice president for new product development.

“We also launched this service enhancement to continue to be the industry leader among major package carriers in the U.S.,” he said. “This service allows retailers who ship with UPS to give their customers a best-in-class delivery experience.”

Since UPS My Choices was introduced in 2011, Smith said that UPS has continued to make enhancements to it every few months since its launch, explaining that this particular feature has been on UPS’s radar for quite a while, and it has had a lot of the technology in place, but decided to launch it only a few months ago because it thought the market was ready for it now.

As for customer benefits, Smith said Follow My Delivery provides peace of mind from knowing where important packages are on the day of delivery and the ability to be present for packages that require a signature.  He noted it also allows consumers to better plan their days. And For retailers, he said the biggest benefit is that their customers who select next day delivery or international delivery will have a better shopping experience when UPS is the carrier.

When asked if this offering can be adopted by business-to-business customers as well as consumers, he said that the technology can be adapted for business users and that UPS is evaluating the demand from businesses and will make a decision accordingly.

“Follow My Delivery enhances UPS My Choice,” he said. “With over 22 million US members, it is the industry leading service for giving consumers choice, control and convenience to manage their home deliveries.. Follow My Delivery is the latest example of how UPS is using technology to improve the e-commerce experience from the point of purchase to the time of delivery.”