Wasn't meant to be... Stamps.com dropped 45% after cutting its profit forecasts for the rest of the year by nearly half. Blame it on the big breakup between Stamps and the US Postal Service. News of the two moving on from each other was revealed in February, but now we know the financial fallout. It's big.
Wasn't meant to be... Stamps committed to an exclusive relationship with USPS back in 1996 to let you print postage at home with its software. It was good while it was good. But Amazon's 2-day shipping makes USPS 3-7 days look bad. Stamps apparently asked USPS to be more competitive, but USPS wasn't up for it. So Stamps wants to see other people. Here's how it will rebound:
- The good: It can finally print postage for customers shipping through FedEx, UPS, or DHL, who already deliver your ecommerce everything.
- The bad: Stamps said yesterday its post-breakup pains are real — it expects sales to fall 8% this year. Analysts thought ending exclusivity with USPS would boost sales, not shrink them.
The real victims here are FedEx/UPS/DHL... Stamps ended things with USPS because Amazon is making moves to become the future of delivery. Jeff Bezos' monster ecommerce platform is leasing 50 cargo jets right now (expected to hit 100) and has capacity for 10,000 branded tractor-trailers. Stamps' affection reveals Amazon's ambitions.