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As the economy ebbs and flows, the eCommerce payment gateway industry could continue to be affected. Things have been moving in a positive direction, but the new Postal Service proposal could have the opposite effect.

The proposal is a possible move to a five day delivery week, cutting out Saturday delivery. By 2020, the United States Postal Service (USPS) expects a 228 billion dollar deficit from the severe volume declines. In layman’s terms, people are sending out much less mail. This isn’t too shocking, considering how many people gravitate toward private shipping companies such as FedEx and UPS. Nonetheless, the USPS tends to be a cheaper alternative, and many companies offering eCommerce use it for delivery.

A proposal was put forth, originally, to change priority shipping from 1-3 days to 2-5 days, but it has since been revoked, according to The New York Times. Of course, such a possibility may always exist if the trend of declining volume occurs more exponentially than expected.

According to Auction Bytes, “A possible move to a 5-day delivery schedule and likely fee changes could mean that online sellers who currently use the U.S. Postal Service might have to change the way they do business to satisfy consumer expectations.”

With changes in fees, the prices consumers are used to paying for shipping could change, thus being problematic to those responsible for shipping. If the opportunity cost of heading to a store to buy an item rather than purchasing it online is high enough, users may forgo the ease of using the Internet.

There is no need to panic though. There are other ways of shipping, and many eCommerce companies do use private shipping companies for delivery. And, if the proposal does go through, all companies will be dealing with the same changes, so it may not be as shocking to a consumer as some predict.

Of course, nothing is set in stone. This is merely a proposal, and there has been a good bit of opposition to it. In fact, according to Auction Bytes, “The President of the 300,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) opposed the proposal in a statement on Tuesday. Fredric Rolando said, ‘I do not believe that weakening our commitment of six-day service to the public will enhance the long-term position of the Postal Service as a critical element in our nation’s economic infrastructure. In view of the January report released by the postal Inspector General that showed that the USPS was overcharged by $75 billion for postal pension costs, Congress instead should take immediate steps to correct the error.’”

Even so, if you are an online merchant using eCommerce payment gateways, it may be a good idea to let your voice be heard on this proposal.

CHICAGO, IL–Good news for anyone involved in eCommerce: United States eCommerce spending rose 3% in the fourth quarter of 2009, which was not only the first positive increase in four consecutive quarters but a major increase since the previous quarter.

As the declination rates of the rest of the economy began to slow and showed some signs of recovery, eCommerce–an industry that tends to remain a step ahead of most industries– actually showed positive growth.

“Total eCommerce spending for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, was $39 [billion], an increase of 3%, compared to $38.1 [billion] for the same period last year,” according to Computer Business World. “The eCommerce spending was $29.55 [billion] in the third quarter of 2009.”

This means, in just one quarter, the eCommerce spending jumped $9.45 billion dollars or an increase of 32.8%. Even accounting for the holiday season and end-of-year bonuses, this remains an extraordinarily high number. With the unemployment rate percentage still in the double-digits, this has an enormous impact on the economy in general but also for companies needing to pull themselves out of the dreaded red.

Of course, eCommerce is still down from the past year. According to Computer Business World, “For the full year 2009, total retail eCommerce spending was $129.8 [billion], decreased marginally compared to the previous year’s total retail eCommerce spending of $130.1 [billion].” But the last quarter increase shows signs of recovery, and if the numbers keep up, a 3% - 6% increase in 2010 does not seem unlikely.

This obviously has large implications for any company already involved in eCommerce, and positive implications at that. But it also has implications for those not involved in eCommerce: namely, that companies who are choosing to conduct business simply as brick and mortar shops without an online shopping component are missing out on one of the only recovering aspects of commerce.

As previously reported, Crabtree & Evelyn is just one company who has been saved from bankruptcy by eCommerce, and the trend is a growing one. With a positive economic boost in eCommerce, the need for online payment gateways continues to grow, and the need for safe, reliable and easily accessibly Internet payment gateways becomes more vital than it ever has before.

It’s important to keep customers safe if this eCommerce economic boost continues.

Not all are optimistic that it will, though. Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore, thinks the boost will subside as the economy continues to remain in shambles.

“As we head into 2010, there is reason for guarded optimism for online retail spending to continue to gain share of consumers’ wallets,” Fulgoni said. “At the same time, I expect absolute growth to be stymied by continued high unemployment and the deleveraging that is occurring in the economy as consumers exercise their new-found propensity to save.”

But as Payleap previously reported, “According to the Wall Street Journal, German economic efforts will strengthen in 2010 and the economic recovery in Japan, while slowing down a tad, is expected to continue.” Not to mention that the United States economic recovery is expected to show a large boost in the final quarter of 2010 as well, some even predicting it will return to its pre-recession state.

The future remains uncertain, but one thing is sure: eCommerce is seeing a rise in spending. It is saving businesses and was one of the least hurt industries by the recession.

As cliched as the expression is becoming, it’s cliche for a reason: eCommerce appears to be the future of commerce.