UPS 2010 Annual Report Download - page 20

Competition
We are the largest package delivery company in the world, in terms of both revenue and volume. We offer a
broad array of services in the package and freight delivery industry and, therefore, compete with many different
local, regional, national and international companies. Our competitors include worldwide postal services, various
motor carriers, express companies, freight forwarders, air couriers and others. Through our supply chain service
offerings, we compete with a number of participants in the supply chain, financial services and information
technology industries.
Competitive Strengths
Our competitive strengths include:
Integrated Global Network. We believe that our integrated global ground and air network is the most
extensive in the industry. It is the only network that handles all levels of service (air, ground, domestic,
international, commercial, residential) through a single pickup and delivery service system.
Our sophisticated engineering systems allow us to optimize our network efficiency and asset utilization on a
daily basis. This unique, integrated global business model creates consistent and superior returns.
We believe we have the most comprehensive integrated delivery and information services portfolio of any
carrier in Europe. In other regions of the world, we rely on both our own and local service providers’ capabilities
to meet our service commitments.
Global Presence. UPS serves more than 220 countries and territories around the world. We have a
presence in all of the major economies and are among the leaders in most of them.
Leading-edge Technology. We are a global leader in developing technology that helps our customers
optimize their shipping and logistics business processes to lower costs, improve service and increase efficiency.
Technology powers virtually every service we offer and every operation we perform. Our technology
initiatives are driven by our customers’ needs. We offer a variety of on-line service options that enable our
customers to integrate UPS functionality into their own businesses not only to conveniently send, manage and
track their shipments, but also to provide their customers with better information services. We provide the
infrastructure for an Internet presence that extends to tens of thousands of customers who have integrated UPS
tools directly into their own web sites.
Broad Portfolio of Services. Our portfolio of services enables customers to choose the delivery option that
is most appropriate for their requirements. Increasingly, our customers benefit from business solutions that
integrate many UPS services in addition to package delivery. For example, our supply chain services—such as
freight forwarding, customs brokerage, order fulfillment, and returns management—help improve the efficiency
of the supply chain management process.
Customer Relationships. We focus on building and maintaining long-term customer relationships. We
serve 1.1 million pick-up customers and 7.4 million delivery customers daily. Cross-selling small package,
supply chain and freight services across our customer base is an important growth mechanism for UPS.
Brand Equity. We have built a leading and trusted brand that stands for quality service, reliability and
product innovation. The distinctive appearance of our vehicles and the friendliness and helpfulness of our drivers
are major contributors to our brand equity.
Distinctive Culture. We believe that the dedication of our employees results in large part from our
distinctive “employee-owner” concept. Our employee stock ownership tradition dates from 1927, when our
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