Postal transformation, Italian style
In the late 1990s, the Italian post office found itself in a situation that many of its European counterparts knew all too well: The Internet and private couriers had transformed many postal activities into fully contestable markets. To make matters worse, the quality of Italian postal services was poor, public confidence in mail had suffered, and operating losses were nothing unusual.
If the post office was to remain an important part of Italy’s – and Europe’s – economic and communications landscape, a radical transformation clearly would be needed. Cost-cutting alone wouldn’t be enough. The quality, scope and cost-efficiency of mailing services had to improve.
ICT Network
To reorganize Poste Italiane into a more private sector-like competitive enterprise, significant investments were made in the best available information technology. As a result, Poste Italiane developed an IT platform that could serve as the foundation for a number of different applications, all of which could be interconnected and integrated for maximum effectiveness.
Today, Poste Italiane can link more than 14,000 retail post offices and 60,000 networked workstations, 11 major control centers and 2,500 automated teller machines. Indeed, its Information Communication Technology (ICT) network is the second largest in Italy and one of the biggest in Europe.
Besides this improvement, the ICT platform enabled Poste Italiane to develop new services that had long been demanded in the marketplace. Technology now deployed in Italian mail sorting centers allows mail to be processed completely untouched in a continuous flow from the point of input to final sorting. The smoother flow of mail comes with an enhanced stream of information that gives Poste Italiane the ability to better manage operations while ensuring quality service at much lower cost.
High-value offerings such as registered, insured and express letters now are tracked electronically. What’s more, all postal customers can receive confirmation of delivery either over the Internet or through a call center operation that simplifies the contact between Poste Italiane and those who use its services.
More Than Just Stamps
The next step is to maximize benefits of the open, flexible ICT platform and Poste Italiane’s extensive retail presence by making available new (and not necessarily traditional) mail services to key market segments such as government, utilities and large commercial accounts. Retail counters at post offices are serving as portals for both traditional postal and new nonpostal services, such as processing passport requests and renewals, handling public utilities payments, and arranging medical and diagnostic reservations. In short, the post office is becoming a point of sale not only for stamps but for other essential services and products.
To further satisfy customers’ postal needs, Poste Italiane now offers several hybrid and online services that provide access to registered mail, telegrams, certified e-mail, digital signatures and financial assistance. Telephone-based services have been developed and wireless is being studied. Recently Postaraccomandata online, an advanced service for registered mail, was introduced for business and retail customers.
Direct Mail
Compared with a country like the United States, Italian direct mail marketing is somewhat underdeveloped. However, Poste Italiane now provides various solutions that are tailored to direct mailers, such as:
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Postatarget, which delivers personalized, addressed advertising and related communications.
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Postatarget magazine, for sending business communications (house organs, corporate magazines) and ads.
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Promoposta, a door-to-door service for distributing advertising communications and/or samples to residential mailboxes using geographic segmentation.
Direct mail is a target for growth, and new services for this business are expected to be brought online within the next year. The
