IPC release Global Postal Industry Report 2009
The International Post Corporation (IPC) has released its 2009 report on the state of the global postal industry. The International Post Corporation (IPC) has released its 2009 report on the state of the global postal industry.
The IPC Global Postal Industry Report is the most comprehensive report of its kind examining a broad scope of data including mail volume growth, internet penetration and substitution rates, revenue composition figures, staff and pension costs customer satisfaction, delivery performance and mail revenues.
The Report finds that like other industries, the postal sector has been significantly affected by the economic downturn in the last half of 2008, resulting in volume and revenue decline and lower profit margins.
Other factors also put increased pressure on core postal business, due to changes in the macro environment and increased competition from within the postal industry and from electronic substitution via the Internet.
Some additional key findings from this year’s report include:
-The letter mail business has been hardest hit. The financial crisis was not the start of the volume drop, but did accelerate the trend. Declines for the past year are estimated between 4-9%. These volume declines pose a host of implications for posts; improving productivity to maintain profitability will require changes in labour flexibility, operational processes, service characteristics and the definition of the Universal Service obligation (USO).
-Email and e-commerce are displacing paper correspondence and advertisers are switching a share of their expenditure away from addressed ad mail and traditional media to the Internet.
-The home delivery parcel volumes that had been growing remained steady last year, as people turn to the Internet more and more for retail solutions.
-In contrast to the letter mail business, the crisis has boosted revenues for those posts with a portion of their business in postal financial services. They have been experiencing an upturn in deposits, as consumers seek the safe haven of a trusted postal provider.
-In some cases, posts are considering mergers. This year, Posten AB of Sweden and Post Danmark A/S completed a merger establishing a joint group with 50,000 employees and revenues of 4.4bn euros. The new company, Posten Norden required governmental agreement and approval by the European Commission. Further privatisation and consolidation within the industry may be hampered by erroneous regulation of the industry.
