Shipping dealbreakers: 3 signs it’s time to drop Stamps.com Enterprise
If your current deal with Stamps.com Enterprise is causing more trouble than it’s worth, you’re not alone. Today's businesses demand shipping solutions that are scalable and transparent. Shipping solutions should provide clear value on how they improve the way your business ships, while also saving you time and money. To do this, your shipping solution must offer the right features and performance visibility. Unfortunately, Stamps.com Enterprise falls short of these requirements when compared to Pitney Bowes shipping solutions.
Here are some of the shipping solution dealbreakers driving customers away from Stamps.com Enterprise based on feedback from real customers.
Dealbreaker #1: Poor user experiences and lack of features
Multi-carrier shipping software should make it easy to compare rates and delivery services across different carriers. Unfortunately, Stamps.com Enterprise offers a weak and slow user experience that makes finding the best prices a tedious and time-consuming process.
For example, when a customer shops for rates on Stamps.com Enterprise, the platform’s user interface (UI) only displays one carrier at a time unless the customer navigates through extra clicks to find the “Rate Advisor” comparison screen. While this screen is supposed to show the cheapest or fastest delivery services, it makes true comparisons difficult by not displaying the carriers’ information in a side-by-side view. Additionally, the shipping workflow allows users to print labels without inputting package dimensions, sometimes resulting in additional carrier fees for irregular-sized packages.
In contrast, PitneyShip® shipping software has a true rates shopping experience, offering both list and calendar views from where you can sort by speed or price. Plus, because all prices include all applicable carrier fees, you can trust that they’re accurate. The price you see is the price you pay, which is as it should be.
Ironically, Stamps.com Enterprise also falls short when it comes to stamp printing. Rather than allowing users to print multi-denomination stamps, it requires them to print each denomination separately, which quickly becomes tedious and time-consuming.
Stamps.com also uses a 3rd party for viewing and saving electronic return receipt signature files, which means users pay more for something less efficient. PitneyShip, meanwhile, allows you to ship and mail with all those key features in a single, easy-to-use solution. Using Electronic Return Receipt (eRR) on PitneyShip, you can easily locate signatures and track certified mail.
Dealbreaker #2: Complex subscription management
Managing technology vendors is crucial for any business, particularly regarding security and subscription management, which can become costly without proper oversight. Stamps.com isn’t FedRAMP certified and complicates subscription management, charging separately for each location, making it difficult to track user additions or removals, and potentially resulting in overpayment for a solution that doesn’t fit the customer’s needs.
On the other hand, Pitney Bowes' solution is FedRAMP authorized, meets the most rigorous security standards, and offers seamless installation across all sites, with no additional charges for each location. Plus, the centralized user management process allows you to easily add, remove, and adjust user rights.
Dealbreaker #3: Lack of control and visibility
A major problem with some shipping solution providers is their lack of comprehensive visibility and control over mailing and shipping expenses. When these providers fail to stay current with technology and analytics, users find it difficult to monitor and manage costs effectively. For example, Stamps.com customers can only access analytics and reporting for USPS, and only with an Enterprise license.
Meanwhile, PitneyShip users have access to advanced analytics that display spending across users, locations, and carriers. The platform also provides proactive recommendations to help you optimize your shipping methods over time. You can also implement automated business rules to further save time and streamline workflows.
How does Pitney Bowes compare to Stamps.com?
Pitney Bowes Shipping 360® is a SaaS platform designed to help make shipping and mailing less complicated and more transparent. It’s an all-in-one solution that lets your business eliminate common issues that steal time and focus from more strategic initiatives.
With Pitney Bowes, you have access to multiple carriers, including UPS®, FedEx®, USPS®, and DHL Express. In contrast, Stamps.com only offers access to USPS and UPS, with FedEx available solely for air shipments.
With Pitney Bowes, you can expect:
The price you see is the price you pay.
No surprises. While occasional price increases are a part of business, Pitney Bowes customers never experience sudden, exorbitant price hikes. All rates shown in our solution include assessorial and carrier fees—including fuel, residential, peak and other applicable surcharges—so you know exactly what to expect, no matter where you’re shipping from or which carrier you’re using.
What do our customers say? “Stamps.com implementation provided a list of options with no clear understanding of purpose and often incorrect delivery expectations. PitneyShip provides very clear explanations, cost comparisons, and delivery expectations for specialty services across carriers, allowing our users to make more educated decisions for their mailing needs.”
Seamless subscription management and UI.
We provide a seamless subscription experience across multiple sites without charging separately for each location. The platform simplifies user management, enabling easy additions, removals and customization of user rights, reducing administrative overhead and resource allocation. Plus, with electronic Return Receipt, PitneyShip helps you eliminate many of the manual tasks associated with preparing, tracking and managing traditional Certified Mail “green cards.”
What do our customers say? “Stamps.com did not offer a good multi-user experience, leading to users being kicked out during transactions when another user logged in. PitneyShip offers multiple users in the software and allows permissions to be set to dictate access and abilities of users.”
All-in-one shipping and mailing.
PitneyShip delivers best in-market USPS rates including discounts on first-class postage and certified mail. Multi-carrier support including consolidated carrier invoice gives a fully all-in-one experience. PitneyShip centralizes all shipping and mailing activities, and carrier billing into a single platform, simplifying management and enhancing cost control so your business can easily handle complex shipping needs from one centralized platform.
What do our customers say? “Stamps.com did not provide us with adequate functionality per user. We were forced into making one account work for everyone. PitneyShip has allowed us to roll out equipment and user registration to regional staff to lessen mailing burden while providing central training and support.”
More visibility and insights from advanced analytics.
Our analytics provides unparalleled visibility and control over mailing and shipping expenses across the enterprise. We offer enterprise-wide multicarrier reporting with near real-time analytics for USPS, FedEx, UPS, and DHL Express. Our analytics also provide proactive recommendations to help you continually improve costs and enhance operational efficiency, allowing you to make smarter shipping decisions.
What do our customers say? “Stamps.com made it difficult to look at shipping history in the past, [and the] lack of adequate user info and cost accounts made monitoring data difficult. PitneyShip Pro offers an additional analytics option that can provide further insight into overall stats through more filters and comparisons.”