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Presentation of Posten AB's New Service Network

Posted by | Jun 7, 2007 | |

This English version summarises two reports about Posten AB’s new service network that were published by the National Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) in 2004 and 2006. The aim of this document is to describe the development of Posten AB’s new service network, which is largely based on franchises rather than traditional post offices. Today, consumers have access to various postal services through grocery and petrol station chains. This document describes Posten’s experiences from over five years of operating the service network and the changes made during this time. The National Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) is the supervisory authority for the postal sector, for which reason the authority’s assessment of the new service network is also included. This assessment is based on the regulatory framework which must be complied with by the operator allocated responsibility for providing a universal postal service. The reactions of consumers to changes in the service network are also described.

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Fujitsu research reveals retailers are not meeting high consumer expectations

Posted by | Jun 7, 2007 | |

Research commissioned by Fujitsu Services has revealed that retailers are not meeting high consumer expectations for automated services that offer increased convenience and improved customer experience – despite the technology being available.

The pan-European research, which consisted of 12 focus groups and quantitative questionnaires completed by 2,400 people, illustrated a strong willingness amongst consumers to try new self-service technologies. Over two thirds of those questioned felt that automated services improve the efficiency and convenience of their lives. However, in order to ensure consumer satisfaction, retailers need to shift from an operational model focused on generating cost savings and reducing headcount, to a more customer-centric approach.

Managing customer experience across multiple channels is also a key challenge for retailers. Consumers view a retail brand as one business and expect the same experience no matter which channel they are using for product research, purchasing or queries. Almost 70% said they find it irritating when they have to submit personal details more than once. In contrast, many retailers still run online operations and other service channels like telephone contact centres, in silos of their own, almost entirely separate from the store network.

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Base rate held but many savers still to benefit from previous rate rises

Posted by | Jun 7, 2007 | |

As the Bank of England base rate stays at 5.5 per cent today, the Post Office® reveals it is the only major high-street savings provider1 in the UK to have passed on every interest rate rise in full to all of its variable rate customers in the last year.

Last week, on Monday 4 June, Post Office® customers saw their Instant Saver interest rate rise to 5.75 per cent. This followed the 0.25 per cent base rate rise in May.

And Instant Saver customers will benefit for even longer by the Post Office®’s promise to pass on base rate rises in full until January 2010. This makes Post Office® Instant Saver the UK’s best instant access savings account.

Post Office® Instant Saver also guarantees to remain within 1.0% of the Bank of England base rate for the life of the account and offers six free withdrawals a year with a flat fee of just GBP 1 for future withdrawals.

Instant Saver is available at all of the UK’s 14,000 Post Office® branches, by telephone and online. Withdrawals can be made both at branches and ATMs, offering unrivalled choice and convenience.

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The Needs of Postal Users – Customer Survey 2006 – also Library L13970

Posted by | Jun 6, 2007 | |

Executive Summary
Background
Postwatch, Postcomm, and Royal Mail jointly funded a research project with the aim of determining users’ perceptions of the postal service, and the key needs of postal service stakeholders. This was the first large scale research project attempting to define the needs of users by directly asking residential and business users what their needs were. The results may be very useful for Postwatch in their role as the consumer watchdog, with information about the preferences of postal service users (and potential users) feeding into Postwatch policy and the overall Postwatch remit.

Key Findings
The key findings of the research are reported below, whilst the full set of results can be found on the Postwatch website as part of the research project’s final report.
-The Universal Service Obligation
Although few survey respondents had heard of the Universal Service Obligation, there was widespread belief that all its features were important. The features that were felt to be important were deliveries and collections at least every working day, affordable prices for all, and geographical uniformity of stamp prices.
-Knowledge of Postal Services
Approximately three quarters of respondents were aware that 1st Class mail is expected to be delivered one working day after posting, and 2nd Class 3 days after posting, but most respondents did not know the correct price of 1st or 2nd class stamps. Despite a lack of knowledge of stamp prices, most respondents thought postal services were affordable and good value for money.
-Quality of Service Experience
Many respondents reported problems with their mail in terms of quality of service, with approximately half of all survey respondents reporting problems with lost mail and damaged mail in the previous 12 months. Approximately two thirds of respondents also reported incidents of mail being delivered to the wrong address in the past 12 months. Despite the apparent problems, respondents were overwhelmingly satisfied with Royal Mail’s quality of service, with approximately 9 out of 10 respondents perceiving the service to be very good, quite good or neither good nor bad.
-Collections
Post Boxes and Post Offices are used by most people according to the survey, although the regularity of use differs widely. Callers Offices are also used frequently by residential customers to collect packets and parcels from, but less frequently by businesses. The survey also showed most respondents were very satisfied with the density of post boxes, both in rural and urban areas.
-Deliveries
The research showed deliveries made to the front door of properties were seen as being a valuable asset, with most respondents not willing to lose this level of service even if it meant earlier deliveries or a cheaper postal service. Respondents were also shown to not want any decrease in the number of deliveries made per week, with respondents saying they would be worse off if deliveries were any less frequent than now.
-Collection and Delivery Times
7% ospondents thought the last collection time of their post boxes had changed in the past 12 months, with the majority of changes resulting in earlier collection times. Respondents were generally very satisfied with all elements of the collection process, although they were least satisfied with the opening hours of callers offices. Delivery times were thought to have changed within the past 12 months by approximately 40% ospondents, with the majority of those reporting a change stating that delivery times were now later than before. The research showed that respondents were somewhat worse off if deliveries were made at 12pm rather than 8am, and far worse off if deliveries shifted from 12pm to 4pm or later. Delivery time consistency was measured in terms of the variations in delivery times, with the results showing approximately half of respondents had very consistent delivery times ( /- 30 mins), but a significant proportion had ve

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Korea Post makes its present felt across world

Posted by | Jun 6, 2007 | |

In general, it is safe to say that any country’s postal agency pays little attention to things outside its national boundary because postal services are basically about domestic business.

Of course, there are global businesses such as international mailing or parcel services but they typically don’t account for a significant chunk of revenues or profits.

However, Korea Post seems to be different _ the country’s postal service has constantly pinned its eyes on overseas businesses and events in a variety of segments.

Jung Kyung-won, who took charge of Korea Post in April, amply demonstrates the agency’s efforts to take an opportunity not only in Korea but also across the globe through his schedule this week.

On Tuesday, Chung met with his Vietnamese counterpart Do Ngoc Binh in Hanoi to exchange a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

Under the MOU, the two countries agreed to cooperate in sharing expertise in postal services, exchanging experts and developing new businesses.

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US calls for more transparency in privatization of Japan Post

Posted by | Jun 6, 2007 | |

The United States raised concern about the transparency of the privatization of Japan Post, the giant postal service that also provides banking and insurance services.

But US Trade Representative (USTR) Susan Schwab said new measures undertaken by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government would help further open markets, encourage new business opportunities and stimulate competition.

The USTR published the sixth annual joint report prepared by the US and Japanese governments under the US-Japan Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative.

Highlights of the joint report, which reflects a range of measures that Japan has either taken in recent months or will take in the near term, include the streamlining of import procedures for certain agricultural and other products as well as further opening Japan to foreign investment.

Other steps include increasing transparency of regulatory and policy decision making in sectors ranging from healthcare to information technology and strengthening protections against anti-competitive acts.

The report also incorporated new measures Japan has taken in response to US recommendations on the importance of creating a level playing field in the privatization of Japan Post with private companies in the banking, insurance and express delivery sectors.

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Kuwait Minister: No Plan to privatize postal sector soon

Posted by | Jun 6, 2007 | |

Minister of Communications and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Sharida Al-Moasherji has refuted reports that the postal sector will be privatized soon.

Indicating that it is too early to talk about the issue as no law to that effect has been approved yet, Al-Moasherji said, “the postal sector in Kuwait is in a very pathetic condition and needs drastic improvement.” A French team specialized in the postal sector will visit Kuwait to study the problems and will offer recommendations to develop the sector and its workforce, he noted.

Meanwhile, MP Adel Al-Sarawi has accused government of not being serious about establishing a Public Authority for Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) and hinted that it is under pressure to give up the idea, reports Al-Qabas daily. Speaking at a press conference, Al-Sarawi said government has been delaying in submitting the draft law to parliament and though the Parliamentary Committee for Finance and Economic Affairs would have finished studying the project by Monday, the government did not submit anything related to the project yet.

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Online retailers need to innovate more: eBay’s Briggs

Posted by | Jun 6, 2007 | |

The online retail space is growing with bandwidth expansion, and retailers need to match the growth with innovative ideas, according to a panel here at yesterday’s Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition.

In his presentation titled “How eBay will Continue Reshaping the E-Retialing Industry,” Gary Briggs, chief marketing officer at eBay, challenged his counterparts in attendance at the show to think more outside the box.

“Online retail is rapidly maturing but we are not doing enough to innovate,” Mr. Briggs said. “I am offering a call to action to the industry to innovate more.”

One problem with the retail industry today is that online is not given the credit for what it is, according to Mr. Briggs. Online spending is often much less than traditional retail spend.

Also, retailers are not coming up with their own ideas but merely copying others.

“There is a lot more to offer than just free shipping,” Mr. Briggs said. “Free shipping is important but when I go to Web sites and look at how the marketing is done, there has to be more than free shipping to compete.”

Mr. Briggs said the way to innovate is for the brand to give up control and listen more to the consumer.

One example is the introduction of eBay Motors. EBay noticed a trend of users selling cars on its site, but it did not have a category for it on www.ebay,com. Users were listing cars in categories like toys and this was not increasing the sales. Since eBay added eBay Motors, the online retail giant has sold 2.5 million cars a year.

“Our system of innovation is more than what is inside the four walls of our company,” Mr. Briggs said. “We are trying to let the users help us shape how we create our Web site and offer products to customers.”

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