LaGarde and U.S. Postal Service Team Up to Bring Accurate, Affordable Shipping Options to the Web

LaGarde, a leading global provider of e-commerce software, today announced it has contracted with the United States Postal Service to incorporate USPS Web Tools into its StoreFront software to meet the growing demand for accurate online shipping charges.

LaGarde, a leading global provider of e-commerce software, today announced it has contracted with the United States Postal Service to incorporate USPS Web Tools into its StoreFront software to meet the growing demand for accurate online shipping charges.

According to a Jupiter Media Metrix survey cited in a recent Yahoo! News article, 63 percent of surveyed online shoppers abandoned planned purchases because of high shipping and handling charges. Merchants often overcharge on shipping costs as a result of flat rate shipping calculations that don't accommodate for product size and shipping location. LaGarde has integrated support for the Postal Service Domestic and International Rate Calculators into its widely popular StoreFront e-commerce software platform, allowing merchants to calculate actual postal shipping costs in real-time, and eliminating the possibility of inaccurate shipping charges.

Online merchants are clamoring for the ability to offer shoppers shipping charges that are accurate and dont alienate customers; however, they also have to ensure that charges reflect actual shipping costs, as investors are hesitant to support losses on the bottom line. StoreFronts integration with USPS Web Tools APIs sends both the products weight and dimensions to the Postal Service Domestic or International Rate Calculator and returns an accurate shipping charge at the time of checkout. Merchants using this solution are no longer susceptible to potential losses on shipping charges, and online shoppers find value in their purchases.

Using the Postal Service as a shipping solution for online purchases also affords merchants and shoppers additional benefits, including lower shipping costs, Saturday delivery and delivery to post office boxes. The addition of USPS Web Tools to the StoreFront carrier-based shipping methods, combined with value-based and product-based shipping options, gives merchants virtually limitless control over the way their StoreFront web stores calculate shipping charges.

"We are proud to continue expanding our partnership base of premier service providers and industry leaders to include the United States Postal Service, the clear champion of the shipping industry," said Bob LaGarde, CEO and founder of LaGarde. "This integration enriches our StoreFront software platform and addresses a prevalent need among online merchants."

The Postal Service is very pleased that LaGarde has recognized the value that our USPS Web Tools bring to e-commerce websites," said Robert Krause, vice president, eCommerce for the U.S. Postal Service. Website developers that use LaGardes StoreFront software with our APIs are providing merchants with the type of solutions that make online shopping more convenient for customers."

About LaGarde
LaGarde, Inc. (www.lagarde.com) is an e-commerce software development firm headquartered in Lawrence, Kansas. Its focus is to provide business applications software for the Internet, and its StoreFront suite of e-commerce solutions has been providing web merchants and developers with powerful e-commerce tools since 1998. With a rapidly growing customer base of more than 20,000 StoreFront web stores in over 70 countries, LaGarde is leading the field of Microsoft FrontPage e-commerce software providers. LaGarde recently extended its international scope, establishing an office presence in the United Kingdom last month. The recent release of StoreFront 5.0 has further expanded its reach by adding advanced product management, discounting, customer service, design, sales reporting and marketing features to the proven StoreFront line.

About the U.S. Postal Service
For 226 years, the United States Postal Service has been the Gateway to the Household, binding friends, families and neighbors together. It is an independent federal agency that handles 46 percent of the worlds mail volume, with annual revenues of $65 billion. The Postal Service is not funded with taxpayer dollars, but derives its revenues solely from the sale of postage and other products and services it provides. Its unrivaled service network means the Postal Service can deliver money, messages and merchandise daily to 136 million addresses with some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. The Postal Service developed its USPS Web Tools APIs to bring improved customer service solutions to e-commerce shippers.