La Poste launches new services and cuts paper usage
La Poste has signed several partnerships with the supermarket chain Casino, EBay France and WWF France in the last few weeks to expand its network, enhance services and reduce its environmental impact.
Coliposte, the French parcels division of La Poste, entered into a partnership with the supermarket chain Casino to test its automatic parcel pick-up service “Cityssimo” in two supermarkets in Lyon and Paris.
Through the introduction of the Cityssimo service into the Casino supermarkets, La Poste aims at extending its network of parcel pick-up points to offer its customers the possibility to choose their preferred type of delivery of Colissimo shipments. The customers can thus pick up their parcels in their Casino store at the time most convenient for them.
In addition, La Poste and eBay in France have signed an agreement to enable customers to buy and to prepay online their express shipments saving time and ensuring traceability. Chronopost signed a similar agreement with eBay a month ago.
In only a few clicks, eBay users can prepare their waybills indicating the parcel weight, the destination and the delivery terms before paying. Afterwards, they can print off the waybill affixing a part of it to the shipment while the rest of the bill will be stamped by the clerk in a post office to serve as a receipt. This can then be taken to a post office or numerous express counters for parcels.
Meanwhile, La Poste has teamed up with the environmental organization WWF in France to promote a responsible mail policy. It has pledged to reduce considerably its CO2 emissions by 15% and to recycle 80% of its paper by 2012 as part of its overall environmental activities.
