Strategic Plan for
The United States Postal Service
Mail and Package Delivery Industry
The United States Postal Service (USPS) falls within the Mail and Package Delivery Industry. However, there are three major subsets of this industry; non-urgent mail, express mail, and the non-urgent package delivery. While each deal with delivery and share some of the same characteristics, the structure, trends, competition, and threats within each subset are quite different.
Non-urgent Mail Delivery
The industry structure of the non-urgent mail delivery subset is a monopoly. The USPS has the legal right and responsibility to deliver all non-urgent mail to every registered address in the U.S. Therefore because competitors are not legally allowed in this segment of the industry there are no threats of entry into the market. Finally, due to the lack of competition, customers have no other alternatives but to pay the rising price of a stamp for mailing a non-urgent letter.
However, non-urgent mail delivery has been faced with substitutes. In general, the Internet has played a major role by enabling additional alternatives. E-mail has replaced the old-fashioned letter as the main way to stay in touch with people aside from using a telephone. In addition, on-line account management and bill pay have made it possible for customers to pay their bills and do personal administrative tasks over the Internet. With the projected increase in the use of e-mail and on-line bill pay, the profits available in this subsection of the industry will continue to decline. These substitutes give customers a moderate level of bargaining power; however, since there are no competitors, customers have a marginal bargaining power.
Express Mail
The express mail subse ...