Swiss Post continues to top international league for delivery times

Swiss Post is one of the fastest and most reliable postal companies in the world,
as the annual, independent measurements show. In 2004, 97.4% of A Mail and B
Mail letters arrived on time, very slightly down on the high figures achieved for
2003. In the parcels business, Swiss Post maintained its impressive position as
well: 95.8% of PostPac Priority consignments and 97.7% of PostPac Economy
consignments reached recipients within the promised time. On cross-border
letters, Swiss Post has maintained the same excellent record for years: letters
from and to Switzerland reach destinations in Europe in an average of 2.1 days,
whereas the average time spent in transit for European postal companies as a
whole is 2.2 days.
Last year Swiss Post handled around 3 billion letter items and 111 million parcels,
providing an extremely reliable and high-quality service. This is borne out by independent
delivery time measurements. Last year 97.4% of A Mail and B Mail letters were delivered
within the stipulated time. As in previous years, these are extremely high values. (In
2003, 97.9% of A Mail letters and 98.2% of B Mail letters arrived on time. For a
summary of the delivery data, see the tables at the end of this press release). Delivery
times for domestic letters are measured by the IHA-GfK market research institute. For
this purpose, some 72,000 A Mail and 39,000 B Mail test letters are dispatched in
Switzerland each year.
Once again, Swiss Post performed well on parcel delivery times. 95.8% of parcels sent
with the PostPac Priority next working day delivery service were delivered on time
(compared with 97.3% in 2003). For the popular PostPac Economy service, which
promises delivery within two working days, the figure was unchanged from the previous
year, 97.7%. The slight decline in PostPac Priority performance is due to isolated
technical problems in September last year. Parcel delivery times have been measured
since 2002 in collaboration with the University of Basel in a procedure checked by the
Federal Office of Metrology and Accreditation (metas). Every month the delivery times of
about 300 randomly selected parcels are ascertained. PostParcel also offers a “Track &
Trace” service under which Swiss Post customers can monitor their parcels’ progress on
the Internet at all times (www.post.ch/trackandtrace) and call up the delivery time.
Out in front on international letter items
In the area of international mail, Swiss Post has been one of the fastest and most reliable
postal companies for years: priority letters from European states to Switzerland or from
Switzerland to other European states reach their destinations in an average of 2.1 days.
The quality of cross-border European mail dispatch has been checked since 1994 by the
International Post Corporation (IPC) (UNEX measurement). The average for UNEX
members is 2.2 days. These measurements are conducted for 18 European member
states. Altogether, the IPC has 23 members, including the postal companies of Cyprus,
Hungary, Australia, Canada and the United States of America). IPC members handle
around 77% of world-wide personal traffic.
Overview of delivery times
Delivery times for domestic letters
2004: A Mail 97.4% B Mail 97.4%
2003: A Mail 97.9% B Mail 98.2%
2002: A Mail 97.3% B Mail 98.1%
2001: A Mail 97.6% B Mail 98.4%
2000: A Mail 97.1% B Mail 97.9%
1999: A Mail 96.6% B Mail 98.2%
Delivery times for domestic parcels
2004: PostPac Priority 95.8% PostPac Economy 97.7%
2003: PostPac Priority 97.3% PostPac Economy 97.7%
2002*: PostPac Priority 96.3% PostPac Economy 98.4%
* Parcel delivery times have been measured on an independent basis since 2002.
Cross-border Priority letter delivery times (import and export)
2004: Priority letter 2.1 days (UNEX 2.2 days*)
2003: Priority letter 2.1 days (UNEX 2.2 days*)
2002: Priority letter 2.1 days (UNEX 2.2 days*)
2001: Priority letter 2.2 days (UNEX 2.3 days*)
2000: Priority letter 2.1 days (UNEX 2.3 days*)
1999: Priority letter 2.1 days (UNEX 2.3 days*)
* Average for the 18 European IPC members (according to the UNEX study, no direct
comparisons with other postal organizations may be published).
Information:
Media Unit +41 31 338 13 07 [email protected]