Couriers Slow Down E-Commerce

The boom in the e-commerce sector continues. Last year the market was worth ZL4.5-5 billion. Together with the increase in sales via the Internet, the number of packages to be sent is growing alongside competition between e-shops. The delivery of the purchased goods, its price, speed and quality, is becoming the most important element of the transaction. However, many e-shops’ owners believe that courier companies do not catch up with the development of the sector. “Our clients very often inform us about problems with the delivery, such as inconvenient hours or impolite couriers,” said Krzysztof Jerzyk from Merlin.pl. In the survey conducted by Sklepy24.pl in December 2006, the majority of 380 respondents said that both Poczta Polska and courier companies provide a low quality service. 62 percent of them complained about the high price of courier companies, which they believed to be second most important obstacle to the development of e-commerce. Some courier companies do not provide credit card terminals and are impunctual. 42 percent believed that real competition between courier companies would influence the growth of e-commerce in the future.