Couriers Keep Ringing the Doorbell Until Someone Answers
Polish Post (Poczta Polska) will soon have to face new competitors. It's possible our letters will be delivered by yellow-clad Deutsche Post mailmen or La Poste employees is navy blue. Today, we have no choice. If we want to send a letter or a postcard, we have to do so through Polish Post. Until the end of 2008, it has a guaranteed monopoly on light weight parcels (up to 50 grams). Before we send the parcel, it is worth taking a look at the calendar. A priority letter (more expensive than the regular type) will be delivered the day after it is sent, if we put it in the mailbox in morning hours.
There are, however, cases (eagerly related in the media) that a priority letter takes as much as a week to reach its recipient. It is even worse with normal letters (the economy type). They sometimes take as long as two to three weeks. Similarly invoices for electricity, gas, and cellular phones, in the case of which operators add interest for each day of delay. There are still problems with registered letters. Mailmen often deliver parcels before noon. If there is no one home, they leave a notice in the mailbox and the recipient needs to go to the post office to collect the parcel ? and this means further complications and more time lost. Postal services are generally considered to be getting more and more expensive, while their quality remains low. Even Polish Post directors unofficially admit that some of their outposts ? there are 8 thousand in Poland ? remind of the times of the PRL as far as their efficiency is concerned. Clients wait lined up in queues like [paprotki na lstrykowych parapetach). But is supposed to change soon. Polish Post is to become modern, quick, cheap and customer friendly. Instead of windows, a table and coffee; instead of queues ? comfortable armchairs; instead of rude clerks ? a smiling consultant. Polish Post needs to change, because Poles are increasingly often turning to the competition. Meanwhile, international postal corporations are waiting around the corner, eager to deliver our parcels. – How to Take Over Accounts
The battle for clients has already begun. Many companies are trying to break down Polish Posts monopoly and make life easier for us. Current legal regulations are favorable towards the national monopolist ? it still has exclusive rights for delivering letters weighing up to 350 grams until the end of this year. These are , for example, invoices from cell phone and cable TV companies. This is an enormous market that generates nearly ZL400 million each year. Another ZL400 million can be made on delivering parcels weighing up to 50 grams (letters, forms, officials notices). Polish Post has a monopoly for this type of services until the end of 2008. "The monopoly conserves old arrangements, no one needs to take care of ensuring the quality of the service or fighting for clients.: explains Marek Rozycki, chairman of Masterlink Express. Similarly to 90 other courier companies that function in Poland, in recent years Masterlink has been making money on delivering parcels that weigh over 350 grams.
These companies currently take care of delivering books from mail order bookshops, merchandise from internet stores, prizes won in competitions and loyalty programs. This lucrative market is where Polish Post lost its monopoly the fastest and practically gave up without a fight (it's Pocztex services currently covers only 3 percent of the market). "We deliver a lot of private parcels. True, it does cost ZL26, but clients pay and expect good service for their money. Our couriers take care of picking up and delivering the package. Clients can at any time use the internet to check where the parcel is and when it will reach the recipient. Many of our clients are very busy people that prize quality and ease." explains Radal Dziura of TNT Express. Bustling clients can also choose companies such as VIA (operator of the My Accounting (Moje Rachunki) service point network) and UniKasa, which are trying to push Polish Posts out of the so-called "mass payment" market.
"Poles pay Zl50 million worth of bills. Thanks to our outposts, they can do it while taking care of everyday shopping ? at a supermarket, gas station, or video rental store." explains Ewa Ulicz of VIA.
There are currently 5 thousand VIA points in Poland. The companies target number is 10 thousand ? meaning there will be more VIA points than post offices. VIA wants its points to resemble small financial service centers. Currently clients can charge their pre-paid cell phone accounts there. In the future, it will be possible to take up money like in an ATM machine, or even transfer it. "My Accounting" also attracts clients through low commissions ? from ZL1 to ZL1.99, while the same service in a bank can cost as much as ZL5. Until recently the same service cost ZL3.5 at the post office.
"We lowered the price to ZL2.5 in January." says Marcin Anaszewicz, Poczta Polska spokesman. This is the first indication that the Post is afraid of the competition. – Competitors from the Net
Another challenge Polish Post has to face is the rapidly growing internet service market. We write less and less letters because e-mails are gaining popularity; greetings from holidays are often sent by SMS or MMS. Companies that send merchandise COD and are often afraid new technologies, but they will soon have the opportunity to cease working with the monopolist. PayPal, part of the American giant eBay, is entering the Polish market. The PayPal system works in 46 countries. It allows making so-called micro-payments and money transfers through the internet with minimal commissions. The system already has 60 million users worldwide. PayPal's entry is also bad news for banks, which still have high prices for foreign transfers. Polish Posts monopoly on receiving radio and television subscription fees is also in danger due to the agreement with the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiTV). An honest viewer that wishes to pay the fee can do it only at a post office. This automatically eliminates those subscribers that never visit post offices. At the same time, the monopolist is not cheap ? out of each annual subscription fee, Polish Post gets around ZL10, giving a total of ZL50 million. Rumor has it that there are banks and companies that want to do it for less. The monopoly on collecting the fees is also unfavorably looked upon by the European Commission, which may decide to classify it as a forbidden form of public financial aid. – German Lesson
With the beginning of 2009 the Polish postal services market will be freed completely and it will other national posts will be able to deliver our mail.
"Poles constitute 38 million potential clients and postal services have always been a lucrative business. This is why other European postal services that have already been privatized and modernized are interested in doing business here." says Aleksander Morozowski, chairman of DHL Express Polska. He knows best, because his company is a part of the Deutsche Post World Network corporation – – the German national post service that was privatized in 1998. Moreover, already French postal services (owner of Masterlink), the privatized Dutch post (TNT couriers) and the American post (UPS, FedEx) are already present in Poland.
"These companies will surely compete for delivering Polish parcels." forecasts professor Henryk Babis of the Szczecin University, specialist in telecommunications. In his opinion, after the withdrawal of the monopoly in 2009 Polish Post may well lose as much as 40 percent of the market. This would mean that every other Pole would cease making use of its services. The German lesson may well hold much value for the Polish Post.
"In the mid-90's the German Post had a very bad reputation. Only 60 percent of all parcels got delivered on time. Germans massively switched to courier companies and the resulting holes in the national post operators budget had to be patched up with taxpayers money. Today, the German Post is an efficient company listed on the stock market that delivers 98 percent of all parcels on time." says Morozowski.
The sending the least expensive type of letter costs EUR1 to EUR1.5. The directors of German Post were the first to realize that the number of traditional letters will fall with time, so they took over several courier companies and invested in developing financial services. Ignoring public protests, the downsized their workforce by 150 thousand, cut wages, and spent the money they made on the stock market on new technologies.
"European postal companies pay much attention to the quality of their services." says Morozowski. In Scandinavian countries letters can be sent and received from gas stations or in local stores. Will it be the same in Poland? – Three Years Vacation
"We are conscious of the fact that we still have three years." says Marcin Anaszewicz, Polish Post spokesman. This is the time for its chiefs have to improve the quality of services and convince clients to stay with them. According to Anaszewicz, Polish Post functions properly.
Every day 8 million parcels are processed (up to 40 million during Christmas holidays). At the same time it is a national symbol, an institution of public trust and one of the best known brands in the country. But also, according to Anaszewicz, it is the national whipping boy when something goes wrong. In this business, no one is infallible. The percentage of parcels delivered on time by the Polish Post is 86 percent in the case of priority parcels and 84 percent in the case of normal letters. The average in Europe is 80 percent. This does not, however, change the fact that one letter in ten sent in Poland is not delivered on time. Moreover, queues in offices are a real pain in the neck. For society, this is sufficient basis for having an ill reputation of Polish Posts. Nonetheless, faced with perspectives of tough competition, the posts management is preparing some revolutionary changes.
"Clients will feel the effects with the beginning of next year." announces Anaszewicz. For example, bar code scanners will finally be installed in post windows, which means paying bills and receiving parcels delivered to the post office will become a lot faster (currently the clerk needs to enter data into the computer manually and then sift through hundreds of packages). Polish Post also wants to take care of around 100 key clients, such as banks and telephone network operators that send tons of letters every week.
According to professor Hebryk Babis, this is where the upcoming battle will be the most fierce and where Poczta needs to make improvements the fastest. After all, bill need to be delivered on time. – Special Mission
Changes in Polish Posts structure are also supposed to help. The current public utility company (the functioning of which is regulated by a special law) will be transformed into a public limited company with part of its shares going to the stock market. The Post urgently needs ZL3.5 billion for investments. These funds will be used for building 14 transshipping centers which, according to Anaszewicz, will increase the speed with which parcels are delivered (there are currently only two such facilities). Polish Post also wants to make use of its 8 thousand branches located all over the country. This is at the same time its trump card and its biggest burden, as many of the outposts are located in rural areas, where only small amounts of parcels are sent.
"Financial services can be provided in each outpost." says Anaszewicz. But not only. Already books, candy bars and hair gels can be bought there. It is likely the planned changes will make clients happy, although the same cannot be said of the Posts employees. On Poland's increasingly demanding employment market Polish Post has been a safe haven in recent years for its 100 000 employees (including 20 thousand mailmen).
There were no cadre reductions. No wonder trade union representatives react uneasily at the words "restructuring" and "20 percent over-employment". They are already announcing sharp protests. There remains the question of the Posts mission. All European posts, even those that have been privatized, are obligated to supply their services to all citizens. This means that they should sent letters to and from every place in the country for a accessible price. Polish Post likes to boast about this, as well as the fact that it delivers schoolbooks to rural areas. It is difficult to make a profit on public services ? it is often the case that the company has to pay from its own pocket. For the citizens of small villages in the Mazury, Bieszczady, Bory Tucholskie regions this can mean only one thing ? after 2009 they will still have no alternative to the Polish Post.
"Foreign post companies will be eager to enter 15 large agglomerations, because that is where they can make a profit. " comments Henryk Babis. Commercial telephone operators such as Netia or Dialog act similarly. In theory, they have to place telephone booths in publicly accessible places. It is true, such booths have appeared, but only in shopping centers as a method of advertising. For those that want to pay ZL1.50 for sending a postcard from their vacation, this is not good news.
