UPS Unveils New Service to Avoid Missed Deliveries

Sorry we missed you? UPS is unveiling a delivery-notification service aimed at not missing you at all.

Called My Choice, the basic free membership service allows package recipients to be notified of incoming shipments and provided an approximate arrival time the night before delivery. Delivery alerts will be offered through e-mail, text or phone calls. For packages that require signatures, members can electronically sign for packages on their computers or mobile phones.

For $5 per package, members can also choose to re-route the package to another address or a UPS Store. A premium version of the service costs $40 per year and provides delivery alerts, a delivery planner and the ability to leave driver special instructions. Premium members also are offered a two-hour delivery window, compared with the four-hour window offered for free.

The service starts Oct. 3, in time for the peak holiday shipping season.

UPS said it’s starting the service to capture more of the growing e-commerce market. Shoppers spent $32.6 billion online during the holidays in 2010, a 12 percent increase from the year before, according to comScore. Last year was the first time that sales on Cyber Monday — a critical online buying day that falls the Monday after Thanksgiving — exceeded $1 billion.

Although most online shoppers can’t choose their shipping provider, UPS CEO Scott Davis said in an interview with The Associated Press that he’s hoping My Choice will make consumers put pressure on retailers to favor UPS over competitors, including rival FedEx Corp.

United Parcel Service Inc., based in Atlanta, delivers to more than 100 million residential addresses each year.