In the competitive landscape of American e-commerce, the final mile is often the most critical. As of 2026, doorstep delivery is no longer the "gold standard" it once was—porch piracy, missed delivery windows, and rising residential surcharges have forced a shift.

Enter the UPS Access Point® network: a massive infrastructure of over 16,000+ locations across the United States designed to give merchants and consumers a secure alternative to the traditional home porch.

Not all Access Points are created equal when it comes to regulated goods. If you are a licensed alcohol shipper, location selection is critical:

• Eligible Locations: Most The UPS Store® locations, Michaels, and select independent local businesses are equipped to accept alcohol shipments.
• Ineligible Locations: CVS Pharmacies and certain other corporate retail partners generally do not accept alcohol or wine deliveries.

Pro Tip: Always use the UPS Locator API with the "Accepts Restricted Articles" filter enabled to ensure your customers only see valid locations for these products.

To ensure a package is successfully routed to and accepted by a retail partner, you must use a Direct to Retail (D2R)shipping label. Standard residential labels redirected mid-transit can cause confusion and delays.

There are two primary ways to generate a D2R-compliant label:

• Via API: In the UPS Shipping API, you must populate the AlternateDeliveryAddress container with the specific Location ID of the Access Point.
• Via Address Formatting: If your system doesn't support the specific API container, you can often trigger D2R routing by placing the specific location code (e.g., D2R:[LocationID]) in Address Line 2 of the recipient's field.

UPS Access Points, especially smaller independent shops and lockers, have physical capacity limits. During peak seasons or high-volume periods, a location may "black out" and temporarily stop accepting new packages if their storage area is full.

• Recommendation: Produce your shipping label as soon as possible after the order is placed. The UPS system "reserves" space in the location's capacity queue at the moment the label is generated. Delaying label creation until the next day increases the risk that the chosen location reaches its limit, forcing a delivery redirect.

Theft remains a primary concern for US consumers. By shipping to a staffed Access Point, the chain of custody never ends at an unattended doorstep.

• Security: Packages are kept behind a counter or in a locker under surveillance.
• Verification: Recipients must present a government-issued photo ID (and be 21+ for alcohol) to retrieve their item, virtually eliminating "Item Not Received" (INR) fraud claims.

Every time you ship to a home address in the USA, carriers apply a Residential Surcharge (often $5.00+).

• Commercial Advantage: Because Access Points are commercial businesses, shipments sent directly via D2R are billed at commercial rates.
• DAS Savings: Shifting volume to a central commercial Access Point can reduce or even eliminate Delivery Area Surcharges (DAS), especially in suburban areas.

A single missed delivery attempt for an "Adult Signature Required" item begins a cycle of frustration.

• 7-Day Hold: Access Points typically hold packages for 7 days, allowing customers to pick them up on their own schedule—even on evenings and weekends.

Recent data shows a clear consumer movement: 10-20% of customers in the USA now typically select a pickup location instead of home delivery when given the choice at checkout.

For Gen Z and urban Millennials, this number often climbs even higher as shoppers prioritize security over the "convenience" of an unattended porch.

Integrating UPS Access Points effectively requires a system that handles location filtering (for alcohol) and real-time capacity checks. This is typically done via a shipping API or a dedicated partner like Via.Delivery.

Learn how to automate D2R labeling with Via.Delivery today.