La Poste Group unveils strategy to modernise and diversify
La Poste Group has unveiled a major new strategy under new president Philippe Wahl, seeking a “profound transformation” to modernise its public service mission and pursue new areas of business. Wahl, who took charge of the French national postal service last autumn, presented the new strategy to his Board yesterday stating that it was “essential” to diverge from the present course.
The company said its strategy, dubbed “La Poste 2020: Conquering the Future”, was the result of an “unprecedented” consultation with stakeholders including staff, unions, citizens and government.
Its central roadmap aims to accelerate the development of existing services, expand into new areas of business, and modernise the public service in order to restore economic health to the state-owned company.
The new plan comes as the digital revolution continues to hit mail volumes and post office footfall, while growing competition in the parcel-express market eats into margins.
La Poste said the first step will be for a reorganization of the Group, details of which will be presented to the Board in March.
The Board will then assess a series of action plans in June, along with financial projections for the strategy running from 2014 to 2020.
The postal operator, which employs more than 268,000 people, is also planning to begin discussions with trade unions at some point in the first half of this year, to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.
Strategy
La Poste’s strategy includes the intention to build on its position in multi-channel customer relationship communications and become the premier logistics network for home delivery.
The company said it will look to build a “hybrid” parcels-express network, fusing business-to-business and business-to-consumer operations, to become a European leader in the delivery of parcels to individuals.
La Poste will also position its core business as a reference network for public service, and develop its banking arm, La Banque Postale, and its mobile phone business La Poste Mobile.
The Group also intends to accelerate its digital transformation to drive innovation in services and foster new business activities.
New business areas that La Poste Group’s strategy aims to develop include further e-commerce services, localised logistics services, secure digital communications and assistance for the elderly and disadvantaged.
La Poste is also looking at more non-postal activities taking advantage of its assets, including property management services, further mobile phone and Internet connection services.
The company said: “Taking a foothold in these new business areas, La Poste Group will meet the expectations of customers, citizens, regions and postal workers who demand that the Post continues to perform critical tasks that are still relevant in the digital age: facilitating trade, helping to maintain national cohesion, promoting regional development, contributing to social connection while safeguarding privacy and security.”
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While pursuing new and modernised business opportunities to improve its financial sustainability, La Poste said it also aims to develop more activities in the public interest, as part of its social mission.
This would include in particular using La Banque Postale to help those without bank accounts, creating trusted third party verification for the digital world, and helping to modernise public sector communications.
