Customer Service
How the UPS Store delivers best-in-class retail customer experiences
Sean O’Neal, vice president of retail operations at The UPS Store, outlines customer experience strategy, how automation is playing into CX and reveals how data collection and customer relationship management is enhancing the customer experience.
September 10, 2025 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com
At a UPS Store the typical consumer experience is a one-on-one, in-person interaction between the employee and the customer aiming to ship a package.
But there's also the super quick experience, away from the counter, where customers can tap self-serve kiosks, using QR code scanning.
Yet the in-store drop off experience, whether at the counter or a kiosk, is just one part of the UPS Store business equation given the UPS Store is the nation's largest franchisor of retail shopping, postal, printing and business service centers.
There are more than 5,300 independently owned locations in the U.S. and the customer base ranges from consumers to small business owners to corporate road warriors.
The company is part of UPS, the latter which is currently focused on network reconfiguration and what it calls "efficiency reimagined initiatives" — with a goal to reduce expenses by $3.5 billion. The initiatives come at a time when the U.S. White House administration is changing up tariffs on a global scale and retailers are focused on dealing with very likely higher costs on inventory. The tariffs will impact not only importers and exporters but every retailer's consumer base.
For the second year in a row, the UPS Store has been named the top brand on the Forbes Best Customer Service Companies 2025 List. The report is a yearlong survey of 181,000 U.S. residents that provided 4.4 million ratings of more than 3,500 brands, where companies were evaluated on four factors: personal interaction, speed, services and resolution. The company's foray into providing self-service technology is cited in its ranking.
RetailCustomerExperience reached out to Sean O'Neal, vice president of retail operations, via an email interview, to gain insight on what's new and on the horizon for the customer experience landscape as well as how UPS is using data collection and relationship management strategies to enhance customer satisfaction, loyalty and business growth.
O'Neal joined the company in 2010 as a retail store consultant in the east region and has steadily advanced through various leadership roles. In 2015, he was promoted to operations manager, overseeing both corporate-owned and franchised territories. In 2019 he took on a six-month special assignment as the acting regional vice president for the central region. As of July, 2020, he became regional vice president of corporate-owned territories and took on his current role in January 2021.
Q: How does The UPS Store define a rewarding customer experience?
O'Neal: At The UPS Store, a rewarding customer experience is when someone walks away thinking, "Wow, that was easy." That feeling comes from a combination of things: a warm, welcoming environment, helpful face-to-face service and digital tools that make the process smooth and stress free. It's about exceeding expectations in the moment and making things simpler for our customers, whether they're shipping a package or managing their small business. We know that customers expect personalized experiences, and for companies to meet these unique needs and expectations, we carry out those parameters by investing in test-and-learns with our customers. Putting customers first, supporting our people and staying innovative isn't just something we say — it's what we live by. It's at the heart of how we work and how we make things better every day. Supporting every step of the customer journey has earned us recognition as the top Forbes Best Customer Service company for the second year in a row.
Q: How do data collection and CRM strategies play into delivering a rewarding customer experience?
O'Neal: Direct interactions and feedback are our most valuable forms of data in helping us better understand where customers are coming from and what is most critical to their experience. We obtain these insights through focus groups, targeted research, our net promoter score and customer satisfaction surveys. Through regular data collection and insight development, we've learned that one of our key customer segments includes micro small business owners who have less than 10 employees total.
By understanding their motivators, concerns and what drives their decision habits when they go to market, we can better serve their unique needs. Consumer behavior is rapidly evolving as people become more digitally connected and expect personalization at every turn. Data as a CRM tool enables agility and allows us to be proactive.
Q: Can you share insight on what technologies or tools The UPS Store has deployed that contribute to the CX?
O'Neal: The "phygital," or the intersection of the physical and digital retail world, is where we particularly shine in providing unparalleled customer service. We know this relationship has to be seamless, and our success is apparent thanks to the customer service accolades we've received. One example of how we do this is through our Commerce Ready Services program. An element of this program is return services for a wide range of retailers.
If a consumer decides to return something digitally, they are often given a QR code. When scanned in-store, this code opens an intricate workflow process for a franchise associate to start the specific return process. But for our customers, this process is as simple as walking into a physical location, dropping off and going about their way. Other examples of our innovation in action include our use of self-serve kiosks, customer listening tools and dashboards for franchisees.
Combined, these integrations perfect processes and ultimately provide critical feedback in a flexible business environment.
Q: When it comes to driving loyalty, what is the focus for The UPS Store?
O'Neal: For us, our "risk-it-all" moments show our customers that we take their satisfaction seriously. A notable example of this is our exclusive pack and ship guarantee. If a participating The UPS Store location packs a customer's item using only new materials purchased at that participating location, then ships the package via UPS, and that item is damaged or lost in transit, the customer will be reimbursed.
We're always striving to do what we say we are going to do. It matters in our business because shipping can be personal, whether you're a parent sending a graduation gift to a child or a small business owner getting out a last-minute delivery to a high-priority customer. Our customers know they can count on us to meet their needs or take ownership when we do miss the mark. And the metrics speak for themselves — we continue to see an uptick in interest and use with these offerings.
Q: Is the CX strategy one that involves all divisions/departments within the company – how is it set up?
O'Neal: Absolutely — our CX strategy involves every division and department across the company. It starts at the store level, where we're closest to the customer, and builds from there. The front-line experience is where we gain the most valuable insights, and that's where our strategy takes root.
But to truly deliver on great customer experiences, it takes commitment from every part of the organization — not just those directly interacting with customers. Every department needs to care about the experience and be willing to act on the feedback we hear from the store level. That means staying responsive, removing friction and aligning our operations with what matters most to the people we serve.
Customers often refer to a neighborhood The UPS Store location as "my The UPS Store" and that is reflective of our franchisees on the ground, supporting customers and small business owners through both their wins and their hurdles. Being a reliable gateway for them — whether they're launching, scaling or problem-solving — is a real differentiator. At the end of the day, our message is simple: we support and serve you.
Q: So what's on the horizon for The UPS Store customer experience landscape?
O'Neal: Every retailer must look closely at the realities of their operating environment at any given time, then move forward with a plan based on what they can and can't control. The future of the customer experience will be almost all automated, but we also know 83% of customers are more likely to return to a store after a positive experience. We find at The UPS Store those positive experiences come from in-person interactions between our franchise employees and customers. Our world-class, personalized service has created resiliency for our business and is always in style. Meeting customers where they are now and where they could be in five years requires adaptability at every level of the organization while never losing sight of your competitive differentiators.
Q: Is AI playing a role within CX at The UPS Store and if yes, how?
Artificial intelligence has become a mobilized game changer for all industries, not just retail. More broadly, AI-driven insights can help streamline operations by predicting customer preferences and patterns in the product life cycle. We're continuing to explore AI as a CX catalyzer at The UPS Store within areas like returns, targeted marketing, service and product recommendations, so we can offer personalized customer experiences and empower our franchisees with real-time feedback.
About Judy Mottl
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