The past few years have reshaped e-commerce, delivery services, and the postal industry in particular. Numerous world events and ever-advancing technologies are moving these industries into an unprecedented world of opportunities. Escher recently released the fifth edition of its annual industry outlook report, The Future of Posts 2022, exploring options and opportunities as the world and e-commerce marketplace settles into a relatively new normal. Featuring valuable industry insights from 284 respondents from 91 national post offices worldwide, this report analyses automation strategies, point-of-sales channel selections, key investment areas, future network
plans, and more.
Posts Continue Pushing Forward for Success in a New Paradigm
This year’s report revealed that the majority of postal operators have experienced improved revenue and profitability growth in the last year. However, Posts recognize how essential it is to continue seeking new innovations and are now focusing their strategies on serving a predominantly e-commerce-first customer.
With 83% of Posts identifying e-commerce as having the most significant impact over the next five years, many Posts are adjusting their investment decisions to prioritize parcel delivery. Comparatively, letter delivery and financial and government services are receiving a fraction of the investment priorities they once did.
Posts are turning their attention to key areas like last-mile delivery, which tops the list with 41% of Posts indicating it as the top investment priority over the next three to three years. Digital transformation, customer experience, and technological investments in parcel sorting and handling follow closely behind.
Some of the Major Themes Emerging Across Postal Landscape
Today, Posts have the resources, ideas, and technological infrastructures to significantly shape the new reality in e-commerce and parcel delivery. Here are a sample of the emergent themes from this year:
Inbound vs. Outbound Delivery Strategies
There is the now strong that evidence that the nature of the post office is beginning to change. Prior to the decline in letter volumes, customers used to go into the post office to drop off items to be delivered. Now, customers are increasingly using the post office, and looking for services that enable them to pick up items.
This shift is compounded by the increases in services that support using the post office and ancillary post office service locations (PUDO, smart lockers etc) as pick up locations. In fact, two of the top three retail strategies promote outbound post office services.
E-commerce Parcel Profitability
An important focal point for Posts is getting to profitable growth in the highly competitive e-commerce market without cutting corners or the expense of customer satisfaction.
There might never be a complete return to pre-pandemic “normalcy,” as 84% of Posts noted a massive increase of e-commerce parcels during the past few years, so the path to profitable growth likely lies elsewhere for Posts.
Cross-Border Challenges
While prioritizing e-commerce parcels is clear for Posts, there are some areas Posts are struggling with, such as cross-border shipping and e-commerce. Survey respondents stated that they plan to introduce strategies for increasing international parcel volumes. Still, challenges exist, such as real- time tax and duty estimation, transit times, cost transparency, and documentation difficulties.
Analytics Opportunities
When Posts can tap into the power of real-time analytics across their entire network, they can make better decisions and keep costs contained while ensuring customers are happy. From the Future of Posts report, 77% of Posts are using data analytics to understand operational efficiencies, 70% for exploring ways to boost customer service, and 69% for optimizing last-mile delivery.