One month left to get nominations in for World Mail Awards
There is now just one month left to get those all-important nominations in for this year’s World Mail Awards, the mail industry’s major accolade recognising excellence and achievement around the world. Applications are currently open for organisations and projects in categories including Corporate Social Responsibility, Customer Service, e-Commerce, Growth, Innovation, People Management, Retail Project, Security and Technology.
The “Oscars” of the mail industry are set to be bestowed at a special gala dinner ceremony at the Hotel President Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland, on 21st May.
To register your company or project for one of this year’s awards, you can register via the World Mail Awards website at www.mailawards.com, where nomination forms can then be easily downloaded.
The deadline for nominations to be submitted is February 29, 2012.
Last year’s winners included CTT Correios de Portugal, Post Danmark, InPost, Posten Norden, Guernsey Post, Swiss Post, RPost and Neopost.
Innovation
Polish mail and parcel company InPost took home two awards last year, for its achievements both in e-Commerce and Innovation.
For the important Innovation Award, InPost was recognised for its easyPack 24/7 parcel collection and delivery service, which is run through a network of high-tech parcel terminals. The machines allow for a much more efficient delivery network that allows 97% of parcels to be delivered the day after posting.
With access to parcel collections and delivery around the clock, InPost has found 40% of parcels being picked up during the evening when customers have finished work.
InPost’s growing network of 24/7 parcel terminals is changing the face of parcel delivery in its native Poland and now across Europe
The service allows InPost customers to avoid queuing in post offices by using one of more than 420 machines in 84 Polish cities. InPost, part of Integer.pl Group, is in the process of growing its network to 1,000 machines in Poland, and is working with foreign postal partners to establish machines as far afield as Spain, Cyprus, Russia and the Baltic Republics.
The judges were impressed by the number and variety of submissions last year, but said InPost had really stood out.
This year, the Innovation category is sponsored by business consulting and technology specialists Capgemini, and will once again see judges looking for interesting and innovative ways to add value to mail service customers, through new or improved services.
Some of the previous Innovation winners in the 11 years of the World Mail Awards have included LibanPost, Deutsche Post, Post Danmark, ampm, Estonian Post and USPS.
e-Commerce
E-commerce shipping is arguably the hottest topic in the parcel industry at the moment, so taking home last year’s e-Commerce Award added major recognition for InPost’s easyPack network.
The all important cost effectiveness of the self-service parcel terminals impressed the World Mail Award judges, with the economics of shipping so crucial to the success of online retail.
InPost’s easyPack machines can lower last mile operating costs by 80% and eliminate missed deliveries, and has achieved recognition within the Internet community with more than 210,000 fans connected through social media, for whom InPost developed a Facebook-based platform called InFlavo that provides another avenue for e-retailers to offer goods and engage with customers.
The judges said InPost had to be awarded for demonstrating a tailored approach to the e-commerce market, understanding the profile of their target customer and exploiting the full potential of social media.
“As this industry targets the e-commerce market, this is a skill that will become increasingly important,” said the judges of InPost’s win.
Previous winners in the e-Commerce category have included Posten Norden, Post Danmark, Deutsche Post, Korea Post, USPS, Canada Post and Parcelforce.
This year the e-Commerce category at the World Mail Awards is being sponsored by Deloitte, which has a very active post and logistics group working with around 45 different posts around the world to help them develop strategies and new business channels, bringing knowledge from working with 80% of Fortune 500 consumer business retail customers.
Daryl Jackson, director at Deloitte, said a high priority for operators globally at the moment is understanding where they fit in within the e-commerce value chain, with a “major shift” in how parcel recipients affect demand in the system rather than merely the senders of parcels.
“With e-commerce and digital space, posts should understand how the pull is an evolving and very important dynamic,” he said. “An example of how this is playing out is the trend for posts to focus on creating privacy, efficiency and multiple choices in delivery points, including such options as digital lockers.”
Jackson said the World Mail Awards was a “great opportunity” to recognise the good work within the sector.
He said: “The winners and the finalists are recognised for the innovation and time that they’ve put into elevating what posts bring to their customers and I think that there’s not been a more critical time in the history of post for these contributions to be fostered, incubated and then honoured.”
