Courier service firm Mailboxes Unlimited has launched a new service aimed at making it cheaper and more efficient to import multiple packages.

Weekly Express will operate alongside the Mailboxes US Express package forwarding service.

Stephen Thomson, president of Mailboxes US Express, who opened Mailboxes Unlimited in 1990 — it was the first company to offer private mailbox rentals outside the Government-run General Post Office — described his philosophy of providing their 11,000 customers with money-saving efficiencies. “Lots of customers are saying, ‘We have ordered three things — can you save my packages, compile my orders and send them to Bermuda together?’

“So we’ve come up with a cool system.”

He explained as packages arrive at the Mailboxes US Express New Jersey hub, instead of being shipped immediately to Bermuda in the way the company’s regular service works, they are stored for a week, with additional packages from that customer’s order added to the shipment as they arrive.

“We send these orders out once a week,” he said. “It saves a huge amount of money in shipping. We’re already about 80 percent less than the courier services, and now people are saving because it’s just one shipment. Amazon, for example, may send seven packages for one order. Bermudians care, because every time a package comes in, they’re hit with shipping. We don’t necessarily do well as a company — but if the customer is happy, they’ll use us more. That’s my thinking.

“Keep costs low, keep your service high and you’ll keep your customers. People have less money in their pocket right now, but they’ll bring in things if it’s cheap. I’m the Walmart of shipping!

“I fight on customs duty, I fight the landlord on rent, because if I save you money, you will use me more often. And we don’t do delivery. We ask people to come to us to collect their packages,” which, he explained, also allows Mailboxes US Express to offer more savings.

“And,” he said, “we didn’t put up our prices for seven years. But every single year the couriers have put up their prices by four to six percent.”

“When we set up our Weekly Express service we got 700 to 800 e-mails complimenting us. If you have ordered six to eight items, it makes sense.”

In another money-saving enterprise, the firm is currently offering membership at Mailboxes US Express at a $10 sale price, down from the $20 regular cost.

Mr Thomson said the company has introduced new efficiencies as well. “Now, we are encouraging customers to e-mail us their invoice at the time of their order. We push those invoices into a ‘cloud’, and file them in the ‘cloud’, under your US Express number and your customer name.

“The new package arrives in New Jersey, New Jersey finds your invoice, downloads it and send it with your package,” he said.

This saves delays that occur when packages arrive in Bermuda without invoices, which the Customs Department need in order to clear them. “Now we don’t get delays because we are seeing invoices at the time of purchase.”

The introduction of the Weekly Express service comes as the holiday season is approaching. “We do a third of our business in the six to seven weeks leading up to Christmas, leading up to mid-December,” said Mr Thomson.

At this time of year: “what people want to do is save money,” he said. “If you want a laptop computer, for example, and shop on line, you’ve got 50 or 60 places to buy laptops, and you can take advantage of a massive sale — you’re only paying duty on the lower price, so you’re watching expenses and you’ve got more choices.”

He explained that after packages are shipped to Bermuda from their US hub, they are cleared by customs during following morning, and then they are delivered to Mailboxes on Par-la-Ville Road. He explained they are processed there overnight: “ ... and then we start calling clients at 8am.”

The tropical weather systems that recently hit Bermuda have impacted operations, he said. Because internet services were interrupted, it has meant communications have been affected.

He added that the LF Wade International Airport building used by all courier services for arriving packages was damaged, but he said their partner DHL is managing the situation. “The Customs Department is also working hard to get things up and running,” he said. “These are not insurmountable problems. It slows us down a little bit, but it has not stopped us.”

A business like Mailboxes US Express and now Weekly Express which encourage the private importation of goods, faces occasional criticism from the retail lobby. Mr Thomson said: “I completely support Buying Bermuda — my shoes are from WJ Boyle & Son and my trousers are from AS Cooper Man. It’s all about choice — why should we limit people’s shopping? We should not limit Bermudians — Bermudians should have the choice.”

He said that if a person was able to purchase an item at a $300 savings, then that $300 stays in Bermuda. “You will spend that money somewhere else, probably in Bermuda,” he said.

“In truth, everything we buy in Bermuda has come from somewhere else. And the stores — I compliment the stores,” he said. “Black Friday was created out of competition (from overseas vendors),” he said. “The truth is, people don’t want to be limited. We want to be able to run to the stores and we also want to be able to bring things in. It’s about giving people a choice.

“A lot of retailers use us to bring in stock — 30 percent of our customers are shops,” he said.

From his position in the business community, Mr Thomson observes business in Bermuda improving. “I see green shoots — in my opinion we’ve bottomed out and it’s the start of a long slow climb up. We need to increase the number of people in this country. There’s a critical mass — when we lost 5,000 people, that was a huge arrow in the heart of our business.

“Now, we have to create incentives. We should give every incentive we can to bring people in.”

Useful website: www.mailboxesunlimited.com