IPC: diversification is a key priority for posts worldwide
Over 90 high-level representatives from over 30 posts worldwide, including 20 CEOs met in Paris for the IPC 2024 Annual Conference on 23-24 May. Hosted by La Poste Groupe, the theme of this year’s IPC Annual Conference was “Diversifying the Postal Business Model”.
Holger Winklbauer, IPC CEO, says: “With the share of mail in postal industry overall revenue decreasing over the past five year to now account for less than 28% of postal revenue , diversification is a key priority for posts worldwide. The Annual Conference of IPC was the occasion for posts to exchange on key market trends and strategies”.
Parcels and express now accounts for more than a quarter of the overall postal revenue. Posts are driving growth by investing in sectors that build on core capabilities and expertise, such as e-commerce logistics, retail financial services and digital communications. Furthermore, more than 20% of postal revenue is derived from international operations.
With the decrease in letter mail as a proportion of postal revenue, the main challenge for posts is how to adjust their business model to be more diversified in a positive and profitable way. It is important for postal operators around the world to work together, in order to respond to growing cross-border e-commerce.
CEOs underlined that cross-border e-commerce was increasing and that it represented a lot of opportunities for posts, but that it required that posts work even more closely towards an agile and seamless network.
Postal employees and trust from the public were seen as the main assets that posts can build on in the future when diversifying into new areas. While all posts are at different stages of their diversification strategies, several opportunities were highlighted, such as digital services, digital signatures and online voting. Catering for an ageing population was also seen as an area in which posts can play an important role given their footprint throughout their respective countries.
The Annual Conference began with a keynote speech by Matteo Pacca, Senior Partner at McKinsey, on the diversification models and opportunities for posts. The rest of the conference consisted of four CEO panels that focused on regulations and the USO, diversification (outside of letter and parcel delivery), company culture, and cross-border delivery in the future.
