Access TS Delivers Etsy Sellers an Alternative to the Postal Chase - Reconnecting the Etsy Community with What's Best in Life

PROVO, UT, May 16, 2011 (Press-News.org) Access Technology Solutions (ATS) announced an international e-commerce partnership with Etsy, the world's most vibrant handmade marketplace. ATS' international "sell and ship" solution now makes it much easier for Etsy's sellers to offer expedited shipping with full order tracking and more affordable rates. Buyers benefit from lower shipping costs and faster delivery.

Equally important, Etsy sellers can calculate and pay international shipping charges, duties & taxes in one simple transaction from home. They avoid dreaded lines at local post offices and UPS centers. Etsy buyers around the world get guaranteed landed costs and can easily track and receive their purchases.

Etsy's phenomenal growth has been fueled by individuals' embrace of simpler times and their growing preference for custom, handmade goods. Etsy helps a global community connect with independent artisans and designers who use Etsy's technology and innovative services to start and grow their own businesses.

"We really identify with the Etsy community because ATS started as a small, hands-on business. Our initial focus was solely on building something unique that our friends and family really wanted, but simply couldn't find anywhere else," explained Chris Boyle, CEO of Access Technology Solutions. "And now, we're excited to be asked to help Etsy deliver the world. We've learned that when it comes to purchases that international online shoppers value highly, they want affordable, express shipping options with built-in order tracking and world-class service."

Boyle and his team started ATS as a concierge service for U.S. expatriates in Japan that couldn't find the comforts of home in local markets and shops. In less than a decade, ATS has grown into a hybrid software and global logistics company that now helps direct sellers and ecommerce brands sell and ship to markets all around the world. By building strong, trusted relationships with global logistics firms, customs brokers and local delivery agents, ATS is able to bypass cross-border bottlenecks and offer significantly lower international shipping costs than well-known domestic U.S. shippers.

Etsy has also grown via innovation and by building and nurturing trusted relationships. Today Etsy's 8 million-plus members hail from over 150 countries and access over 800,000 shops. Now generating over 1 billion page views per month and with sellers listing almost 9 million products, Etsy has built a fast-growing business that in 2010 saw its merchants' revenue rise to $314 million - a huge increase from $180 million in 2009.

The craft industry itself is benefiting from consumers' craving for a personalized aesthetic and their desire for ways to reconnect with a simpler life; a time when they bought bread from their neighborhood baker and food from local farms. The Craft & Hobby Association's 2010 A&U Study found that 56% of U.S. households crafted at least once last year. Sales of handmade goods and crafts have contributed to the $29.2 billion U.S. craft and hobby industry.

Etsy, which has 175+ employees, has been investing in its operations so that it can continue to be the leading handmade marketplace. The company recently began to offer customer support via live chat,and strives to answer e-mails within 48 hours. To support the fast growth of international e-commerce -- which some analysts expect to represent a $1.5 trillion opportunity by 2015 -- Etsy eventually aims to offer customer service in a handful of languages.

In addition to ramping up its customer service, Etsy is also improving the services it offers sellers and their clients. hop Now tab.

ATS joins Facebook as a recent innovation-partner whose solution set is helping Etsy sellers in the U.S. reach a fast-growing global online marketplace that now numbers in the hundreds of millions. ATS makes it easy and affordable for Etsy's U.S. sellers to ship items to international customers. By allowing Etsy sellers to guarantee and pay shipping charges, duties & taxes in one simple transaction, ATS system not only saves sellers from dealing with lines at the post office, it boosts conversion. ATS's data shows that guaranteeing a total amount of the landed cost that international buyers must pay increases lift from 37% to 52%. Conversion can rise between 15% and 20% when duties and taxes are paid up front.

The ATS system also adds a much-needed degree of simplicity to the selling process. Etsy sellers can easily complete all customs documentation and print shipping labels at home. The ATS system automatically pulls customer information from a seller's Etsy account. Best of all, sellers can drop their package at the Post Office or a UPS collection center without waiting in line to figure out shipping charges. Delivery is seamless and packages can be tracked 24/7.

Access Technology Solutions is a leading international commerce technology and logistics provider for retail and consumer brands, e-commerce and multichannel companies and direct selling firms.

ATS helps leading U.S. brands export products all over the world. ATS' low international shipping rates coupled with its currency converter, secure payment system and landed costing engine can significantly increase international online conversion. ATS' solution automatically converts U.S. dollars into local currencies and calculates the total cost for delivery to international shoppers' doorstep. This "total landed cost" includes the cost of international shipping plus customs fees and all taxes.

ATS' international commerce platform and logistics solution offers companies a simple, low risk way to sell profitably into international markets at significantly lower costs. Online retailers and e-commerce brands can quickly integrate ATS' web services and secure, risk-free local payment options into existing websites, commerce systems and call centers. ATS provides dock-to-doorstop global logistics, native language customer service and operates online marketplace platforms throughout Asia and Europe.

ATS has been included in the top 10 of Utah's 50 fastest-growing companies since 2007. ATS was also featured in the prestigious 2009 Inc .500 list of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S.

For more information about extending e-commerce operations into Japan, please contact Tom McGurran (tmcgurran@accessts.com).

Access Technology Solutions is the leading company providing technology solutions for international logistics for U.S. direct sales and eCommerce companies expanding overseas.