Amine's Blog

Welcome to the DYMO Endicia Blog by Amine Khechfe, DYMO Endicia Founder and General Manager, with more than 20 years of experience in the mailing and shipping industry. Read about industry news, consider interesting insights, explore new products & services and learn about various tools to move your business forward.

2012 USPS Price Change Preview

December 1, 2011

While our next issue will include a detailed review of all the changes coming with the January 22^nd price change, I thought I’d take some time and give you some early highlights of important changes and, specifically, improvements to shipping services. [more]

Get Ready for Shipping Season

October 27, 2011

Can you believe that shipping season is here again? Where did the year go? I feel like I say this every year – that time has flown faster and the year has become shorter. At this rate it will be shipping season every day! (Wouldn’t that be great for business…) [more]

Friday Lunch

September 29, 2011

So, for a change of pace on my blogs I thought I would share with you something we do at DYMO Endicia that’s really a big part of our culture. Friday lunch! Yes, I know everyone gets a lunch, but at DYMO Endicia we’ve always bought lunch for the team on Fridays. It’s a chance for us to come together as a company and as individuals to chat. I believe that some of our best ideas and innovations have come from this kind of regular, informal get-together and that’s why I think it’s so important. [more]

The Art of the Customer Visit: How to Learn from your Customers

August 25, 2011

At DYMO Endicia, the customer is at the center of everything we do. This has its roots in our consulting days back in the 80s (yes, we’ve been around that long…) where we basically built software products to help companies automate and as the cliché goes, save them time and money. We got pretty good at it and always remembered to listen to the customer. And sometimes you learn to listen with your other senses and by seeing things that aren’t obvious. You may go into an office to look at how they use your software but really you should be looking at say, the little desk in the corner of the office for some manual tedious process that would save your customer tons of time. The not so obvious can be oh so valuable to your product development. [more]

DYMO™ Endicia® Partners with Black Rock City Airlift to Send Magic Boxes to Japan Disaster Victims

July 28, 2011

When disaster strikes many people feel compelled to help, but often do not help because they don’t feel they have the means to make a difference. But that didn’t’ stop this group of friends. Led by the saying, “The greatest of all mistakes is to do nothing because you can only do a little – do what you can,” eight friends decided to do what they could to help the victims of the Japan tsunami. [more]

How eCommerce is Fueling the Growth of the USPS

July 5, 2011

At the recent National Postal Forum trade show, I attended Postmaster General Pat Donahoe’s keynote address. As impressed as I was with his presentation, I was particularly happy to hear him articulate the Postal Service’s™ four main strategic initiatives and especially delighted to have one of them be, “to compete and grow the package business.” [more]

Insights from the National Postal Forum

June 1, 2011

The National Postal Forum was held in San Diego early last month. This is one of our biggest shows of the year. I think the crowds by our booth were ample evidence of the shift we’ve seen in the focus of the show over the past few years. When we started attending, the show was definitely about direct mail, now people are interested in the shipping sector, one of t he real growth areas for the Postal Service. [more]

Amine’s Favorite Books & Blogs

May 2, 2011

A few weeks ago, the folks over at Practical eCommerce asked me to participate in their “Reading List” feature for May. I always find it interesting to see what other people are reading so I was happy to add my list. On that note, we thought you might enjoy seeing the article. Be sure to check out the links to other lists at the bottom of the article and, if you’d like to share your list, feel free to leave it in a comment on this post. Here’s the Practical eCommerce link: http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/2714-Reading-List-DYMO-Endicia-Founder-Amine

Green Shipping Solutions for your Business

April 1, 2011

In a 2010 survey of our shipping customers, we discovered that over 50% of you are concerned about their company’s carbon footprint. However, when asked subsequent questions about paying extra for using greener shipping options or allowing customers the option to pay extra for green options, the number of shippers answering ‘yes’ dropped sharply. In this economy, I don’t think that’s too surprising. [more]

Shippers and the April 17 Price Change

March 1, 2011

I spoke a bit about the upcoming April price change in my last post. As I wrote then, this price change will focus on changes to prices for the U.S. Postal Service’s® market dominant mail classes. How much it will affect you as a shipper depends on how much non-expedited shipping you do. If you use Media Mail®, Library Mail, Parcel Post® or First Class™ Parcels or Flats, here’s what you can expect to see. [more]

The USPS Price Changes and You

February 1, 2011

Yes, you heard it right and if you did not, let me tell you. We have another US Postal Service&Reg; price change coming up but this time it really will be just prices – we think. The Postal service announced yesterday that they are targeting April 17 to change some of the mailing prices. [more]

Reflecting on the Holiday Shipping Season

January 6, 2011

So, the 2010 shipping season is winding down and do you feel you did it right? Would you do it differently next year? Was it total chaos or simply organize chaos? What else could you do to make your life easier? Well, we have some recommendations and hopefully you know all this already and if not then we’re glad to help. Remember to stock up on all the supplies you need to ship your products. If you ran out this year, try and make a list for next year. Did you have your shipping area laid out comfortably so items were within reach but not too crowded? Could you have been more efficient if you moved your shipping station or supplies bench? We joke at Endicia that preparing for the shipping season starts in January. Make any adjustments while they are fresh in your mind. [more]