Thank goodness for the New Year, Happy 2021! Each January we set our intentions for the year, not resolutions, per se, more like choosing a direction (or a few directions) in which to grow. Did you set any resolutions, or directions, or make any plans for your new year?
For the newbies: Welcome to the Pendant and Ring family! Every month we send out a newsletter, usually not as long as this one, where we talk about the previous month, any important news, share stories, and show off the most popular blog posts and pieces from across the stores. Subscribe now so you never miss a Newsletter.
As for Pendant and Ring, we are on a good trajectory, especially considering the worldwide difficulties with logistics. Online shopping has grown over the past year but shipping companies and government shipping agencies are still straining under the pressure of too many packages and too little time. Our hope is that the increased demand for e-commerce shipping will provide these government agencies with the funds required to return them to the robust business models of the late 1940s and early 1950s. There seem to be enough packages to support the growth of non-government entities as well. FedEx, UPS, and DHL have all increased their market share.
Unfortunately, FedEx, UPS, and DHL were unprepared for the onslaught of holiday gift packages (even with Amazon managing all of their own shipping). The decision to close up shop when the trucks and warehouses were full was a smart business move with the side-effect of bogging down the government agencies. In countries across the globe, local Postal Offices are still sifting through overflow packages dumped on their doorstep by FedEx, UPS, and DHL. There is not a universal policy for dealing with these added packages and so each post office decides whether to add them to the mix or set them aside.
Australia Post and Royal Mail prioritize in-country customer mail. Overseas packages are being set aside until the postal carriers work through the local load. This means that your international packages might show up in Melbourne, or Bristol, and then sit there, safe and sound until the local mail is taken care of. Once the local mail is running smoothly, the international packages will move through the system and arrive unscathed in your post box.
The US Post Office is taking a different tack. In an effort to deliver everything as quickly as possible, they are not separating the international parcels from the domestic parcels. This method results in longer domestic delays, shorter international delays, and sometimes in mistakes.
For example, Charles bought me a Christmas present on December first. It shipped from rural New York to Chicago, then was accidentally sorted into an overseas lot and sent to Jakarta, Indonesia. Now, it’s on its way back to New York City and eventually, it will be on its way to Chicago, again… I can only laugh at these mistakes knowing how bogged down the mail system is. Luckily, the internet makes mailing newsletters instantaneous so you and I can look back at the month of December right now.
We had some new traffic over the past month. New visitors were shopping for Irish coin pendants. The Harp and Hare, and the Irish Pony coin pendants are very popular as well as 1808 East India Company coin pendants, which almost sold out!
On Google, people found us by searching for “real coin pendant,” “necklace clasp won’t open,” and “how to layer necklaces men.”
Over the next month, and throughout 2021, we hope to write many more, useful, helpful posts about jewelry and showcase just as many * brand new * coin pendants!
2020 was a heck of a year and we are glad to put it behind us. Together we can make 2021 amazing. Thank you for stopping by today and reading the January newsletter. We hope you have a wonderful New Year and we will see you next time on Pendant and Ring.
Pendant and Ring 