On line sales to top USD 200 Billion this year
On line sales to top USD 200 Billion this year
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A survey of logistics: Chain reactions
Delivery companies are consolidating
“WE ARE competing with giants,” says Fadi Ghandour. The Jordanian businessman has first-hand experience of consolidation in the logistics business. He is chief executive of ARAMEX International, which began life as the Middle East partner of a number of American delivery companies. Partnerships and alliances allow operators to link with others to provide services in places where they have no operations of their own. All went well until 2003, when DHL bought Airborne Express, ARAMEX’s chief partner in America. The deal gave DHL a way to compete in the backyard of UPS and FedEx. But for ARAMEX it meant its link to the crucial American market was cut.
Read MoreJapanese Gov't eyes revising mail service law to encourage new entrants
The government plans to revise the 2003 mail service law in a bid to encourage new entrants into the mail business now effectively monopolized by the public corporation Japan Post, government sources said Saturday. Draft revisions being studied include a plan to allow people to post mail at convenience stores. They also include exempting new entrants from the duty of delivering mail across Japan by lifting the ban on signing consignment contracts for delivery in areas they cannot cover. The mail delivery business was opened to the private sector in April 2003. But no company has entered the market – except for the delivery of specified mail in certain areas – due to major hurdles required for newcomers under the law, such as setting up some 100,000 post boxes across the nation.
Read MoreRoyal Mail unveils plans for online door-drop booking
Royal Mail is to launch a web-based booking system for its door-to-door division in early 2007 as part of its increasing emphasis on the door drop medium. The system, which is still in development, will replace the email and telephone based scheme that is currently in place, and will allow customers to deal with every aspect of their booking online. The system, which is being developed in consultation with clients, is already in the testing phase and will be trialled on a limited basis before rolling out just after Christmas.
“This is part of the ongoing investment that we’re putting into door-to-door,” said Ross Drake, general manager for Royal Mail door-to-door.
French postal market opens to competition
The French postal market has been opened up to competition with the first licence awarded to a private operator. The national postal regulator ARCEP has also fixed a price cap on La Poste letter rates for the next three years.
ARCEP granted Adrexo, a direct mail distribution subsidiary of SPIR Communication (Ouest France group), a licence to provide postal services throughout France (except for Corsica). It is also considering applications from other unnamed companies. Adrexo, with 2005 turnover of some EUR237.5 million, distributes some 7.7 billion free newspapers and printed items a year as well as 25 million addressed items into letter-boxes.
Postcomm confirms penalty on UK Royal Mail for failing to protect mail
Postcomm, the independent regulator for postal services, today confirmed a financial penalty on Royal Mail for breaching its licence by failing to properly protect the mail in its care. The penalty – GBP9.62 million – has been reduced slightly from the GBP11.38 million originally proposed, following representations from Royal Mail and others. The penalty follows a review of Royal Mail’s “mail integrity procedures”, during which Postcomm found that some important features of Royal Mail’s procedures were not being applied across the business. The most significant weakness was the poor management of the recruitment and training of non-contract (agency) staff.
Read MoreRoyal Mail offers Pricing in Proportion rebate to customers
Royal Mail is urging UK businesses to take advantage of a financial rebate that will be available when its new Pricing in Proportion (PiP) system is introduced on 21 August 2006. The rebate is available to businesses that spend more than GBP100,000 on postage annually and expect to experience a rise in costs of over 50 per cent – based on usage from 7th April 2005 to 5th April 2006 – when the new pricing system is introduced. A refund of 40 per cent of the price increase will be available in the first year, and 20 per cent in the second year. Lorna Clarkson, Royal Mail’s director of pricing, explained: “Although 80 per cent of business mail will be the same price or cheaper to send when PiP is introduced in August, we are doing everything we can to support customers with the small proportion of mail that will be more expensive to send.”
Read MoreJapan Post to quadruple investment to 180 bln yen in current year
Japan Post plans to invest 180 bln yen during the current business year ending March 2007, four times the amount it spent in the previous fiscal year, to introduce frozen-food deliveries and expand online services, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported without citing sources. The company plans to launch a service that will enable the delivery of items that need to be kept frozen, a well-established segment among private-sector delivery companies such as Yamato Transport Co, the financial daily said.
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