Combine your orders to shop a little greener and save on shipping

If you are a veteran online shopper, you’re probably familiar with free shipping. Spend a certain amount of money, and the retailer will ship your items for free. It may take a few days longer to get your order, but your pocket book will thank you.

There’s another good reason to combine your orders: it makes your shopping a little greener. Say you’re ordering three DVDs from Amazon.com – those would easily fit in one box. Shipping them separately means more packaging, more waste, and more energy spent.












Want to be greener still? Ship them to a KinekPoint Depot! Chances are the courier delivering your package already has to stop by a KinekPoint location and, if the courier tries you at home and misses, you’ll likely have to drive out to their depot to retrieve your package – using more fuel in the retrieval of your shopping.

You can't put a price on love

Retailer's worried about the effects of the economy on their Valentine's Day sales may have a reason to breathe a little easier. Discover® Card's Fourth Annual Valentine's Day Shopping Survey revealed only a drop of 2% in planned shopping budgets over 2008 figures. More surprising is the fact that women may actually plan to spend more money this year.


To read the Discover® press release on the survey, click here.

Let KinekPoint be your buddy this Valentine's Day

You’ve finally found the perfect gift online. There’s just one problem: How do you keep your partner from getting to the door first when it arrives?

Instead of shipping to your home, why not ship to a KinekPoint? We’ll notify you as soon as your parcel arrives and you can pick it up when it’s convenient for you.

Remember, sneaking the perfect gift into the house is always easier when it doesn’t ring the doorbell.

Postmaster general's woes

Today the U.S. postmaster general requested:

“I reluctantly request that Congress remove the annual appropriation bill rider, first added in 1983, that requires the Postal Service to deliver mail six days each week.”

This could mean the end of Saturday delivery by the USPS as we know it. If you are not at home during weekdays, this will make receiving packages a lot more difficult. That is why we suggest you ship them to a KinekPoint Depot! Don't worry about government cutbacks when all you want to get your package.

A tweet a day keeps heartache away

Judy McGuire, in the article “Awful Valentine’s Day – how to avoid it” (for The Frisky and featured on CNN), wises states the following:

If your boyfriend forgets what day it is, you have nobody but yourself to blame. Do you know when the World Series is? Probably not. If you want your man to remember something, remind him.

It’s good advice. As much as women would like to think that men have a built-in radar for Valentine’s Day, there is a thriving market for last minute flowers and candy. The solution? Drop hints early and widely. Don’t just rely on face-to-face conversations, exploit Twitter and Facebook.

A tweet a day can keep you from being disappointed on the big day.

Frustrated shoppers take their security complaints to YouTube

Almost everyone has had a bad delivery experience. From having a parcel stolen from your doorstep to coming home to find a box that looks as though it went ten rounds in a boxing ring, chances are you’ve had at least one delivery experience that has left you seething.

With the advent of social media, frustrated consumers are finding new ways to share their frustration and the results are turning up on YouTube for the world to see. From a woman who videotaped herself on hold with customer service after a parcel went missing to a man who set up a hidden camera to catch a delivery man routinely throwing packages from the curb to his door, consumers are reaching out and sharing their experiences and annoyances with traditional deliveries.

We’re not advocating that you line your driveway with hidden cameras but if you have had a frustrating experience, try typing the name of the courier into YouTube. You might find out that you’re not alone.

Valentine’s Day is just a month away. Are you ready?

Candy. Flowers. Dinner. For years, men have fallen back on these tried and true Valentine’s Day gifts. It’s no coincidence that “tried” and “tired” share all the same letters. While women appreciate roses and chocolates, they’re often left wondering why they didn’t get something a little more personal.

One of the big keys to getting a great and unique gift is to think ahead and look for clues. Does your girlfriend or wife have wish lists at sites like Amazon? Have you seen her eyeing anything in the mall? What about social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook – has she dropped any hints there?

It’s January 14th and it’s not too early to start thinking ahead.