Itella and Alma Media partner up in eCommerce
Itella and Alma Media have concluded a co-operation agreement pertaining to Alma Media’s new Mikko.fi eCommerce concept. Itella will offer mailing and transport services to Alma Media’s web service customers as of 15 September, and Mikko.fi will also serve as a marketing channel for Itella’s services.
At the Mikko.fi portal, owned and maintained by Alma Media, service users can sell, buy, rent or auction goods and services over the Internet. Both consumers and corporations can act as sellers.
The web service places Itella’s parcel services comprehensively at the sellers’ disposal, including parcel address label printing, pricing and transport services. As a seller places a product for sale with the service, (s)he can select the required delivery method for it, price the item and print an address label using a personal computer. Simultaneously, the information is transferred into Itella’s transport system.
The identifier on the address label allows both the recipient and the seller of the parcel to track its route on the Internet, and advance notification of the arriving parcel will be sent as a text message or eLetter. The parcel will be delivered either directly to the recipient’s home address or the nearest post office. Later, the aim is to link further Itella services to the Mikko.fi service, in support of buying and selling on the Internet. Itella Group uses the name Posti on the Mikko.fi portal, providing consumer services under that name.
“The media industry and its development is vital to Itella. Therefore, this agreement on eCommerce co-operation with Alma Media is a new opening for the entire branch and we are excited over this new type of partnership via the Mikko-fi portal”, comments Tarja Pääkkönen, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Itella Group.
“New expectations are associated with purchasing on the Web: in addition to basic issues related to reliability, users value the experiential aspect and the ease of the transaction. Itella’s response to this is to develop innovative online purchasing services. This service concept is unique in Finland, and both sellers and buyers benefit from the ease of use Mikko.fi offers”, says Pääkkönen.
