Turning Data Into Decisions: How Shipping & Mailing Analytics Drive Real-World Savings
“Analytics only matter when they help you make better decisions and give time back to the business.”
Why the stories behind the numbers matter more than ever
Every organization today sits on a goldmine of operational data. Yet many still struggle to answer simple but critical questions: Where are we spending? Which rules are being followed? Where are the inefficiencies hiding?
As Chris Giles, Vice President of Sales at Pitney Bowes, reminded attendees at the Pitney Bowes User Conference, turning that raw information into action isn’t about collecting more data, it’s about connecting it; “Analytics only matter when they help you make better decisions and give time back to the business.”
Why shipping analytics matters now
Across mailing and shipping, the data behind every scan, label, or delivery can provide value: spending trends, avoidable surcharges, refund opportunities, and bottlenecks in your chain of custody
The challenge? Those signals live in different systems and carrier portals, each with different formats.
Pitney Bowes analytics software brings together multi-carrier shipping, inbound package receiving and package delivery activity as a single source of truth for transparency into your sending spend and optimizing receiving activity. To bring the power of analytics to life, Chris often shares “The Pitney Tales”: four real client stories that show how better data leads to smarter operations.
Before diving into the stories, it helps to understand what powers them. Shipping 360® is our cloud-based platform that connects shipping, mailing, receiving, and distribution into one seamless system, giving organizations a single, 360-degree view of all sending activity. Its built-in analytics unify data from across the platform (and even from outside sources) to deliver clear, actionable insights that help leaders see spend, spot patterns, and simplify decisions.
The Pitney Tales: four quick stories with big takeaways
1) The ‘Moneylender’s’ Tale (national bank)
A national bank with 1,800+ branches needed visibility without disrupting branch workflows. Shipping 360®Analytics connected devices, standardized data, and rolled it up from branch to enterprise. It also flagged unused USPS labels so one admin could request refunds across all branches, all without disrupting operations.
Outcome: Instant savings and better habits, visibility drives accountability.
Financial insight in a time of crisis
2) The ‘Bookkeeper’s’ Tale (enterprise mail center)
Finance needed expenses in one centralized place so they can easily bill their clients. Half the spend lived outside Pitney Bowes systems (outsourced mail houses, sorters, carrier accessorial). The solution: Pitney Bowes allowed them to import external spend into one software, apply surcharge rules, and eliminate manual reconciliation and cost recovery tasks.
Outcome: One consolidated, drillable report, consistent, automated chargebacks and faster month-end closing.
3) The ‘Procurator’s’ Tale (global law firm)
A global law firm with 21 offices and 26,000 client matters had one strict rule: no billing to closed cases. Past system upgrades had been painful, and teams were wary of another disruption.
With Shipping 360® Analytics, everything changed. Over one weekend, all client-matter numbers were imported safely, with a one-click rollback if needed. From then on, daily syncs kept data current, adding new matters each morning and disabling closed ones automatically. Each night, billing data flowed cleanly back to their legacy system, with no spreadsheets or manual fixes.
Outcome: Real-time accuracy, effortless compliance, and renewed trust between operations, IT, and accounting.
4) The Sad Tale of Chad (B2B Professional Services Firm)
A client noticed one department’s shipping costs climbing faster than expected. Analytics broke the data down by user, location, and service level, revealing the culprit, Chad, who was unknowingly selecting the most expensive delivery option for every “urgent” shipment. With Pitney Analytics, they were able to uncover the overspending area, retrain the team, and set business rules to guide smarter selections.
Outcome: Full visibility into carrier spends and automated safeguards against overspending.
The bottom line
Great analytics don’t bury you in dashboards. It answers the questions finance asks, the way operations work, and the way IT approves, automatically. With Shipping 360, organizations are moving from “What happened?” to “What should we do next?” in the same workflow.