It goes without saying that the ending year’s most important code word is Covid-19. Like all industries it influenced postal as well. From Post+ point of view we experienced delivery growth of almost 100%.
Since we are a young company who has been in the market only for a year we are mostly investing at the moment in processes, enlarging the team and setting up new departments. But what are the trends which drive this year’s growth in the sector?
Escher has published their third Future of Posts survey which summarizes the insights into the operating methods of 52 national post offices, including key areas of investment, automation strategies, point-of-sales channel selections, and reverse logistical plans.
It is quite logical that the postal industry considers it crucial to invest into key services with parcels and e-commerce. Those areas continuing to take precedence over traditional services, such as mail and financial services. Very similar to last year’s findings, 52% of postal operators use data analytics and 17% plan to implement data analytics within the next 12 months. A huge potential to use this data is still there. Since e-commerce postal traffic made this year a growth which was expected only after a few years, Posts need to manage the trend. More user-friendly, cross-border, e-commerce service features to speed up and smooth the delivery process with increase.
POS channels continue to rely on traditional and physical points-of-service, while diversifying the channel mix to include more automated solutions, such as self-service kiosks and mobile apps, in the next 12 months and over the next five years. Posts are still very keen on their traditions – the majority of participating postal operators (98%) still use post-office counters as part of their channel mix.
Over 43% of post offices across all regions are experiencing a substantial increase in parcel volumes during the pandemic, particularly in the domestic market. 83% adopted new solutions or new approaches to adjust to the new environment. Therefore, postal incumbents need to step up their game by further optimizing their current operations, boosting operational excellence in sorting, transport, pickup, and delivery and – often neglected – business support functions.
