Since last September, the world's postal services have been feeling the effects of the financial crisis just like everyone else. But for the sector's leaders, the crisis is starting to look less like a threat and more like an opportunity.
During a debate on the financial crisis at UPU headquarters, postal CEOs discussed how they were working to withstand the crisis, but also reported that numerous opportunities were opening up for Posts in these difficult times.
Customers see Posts as businesses which share their values, and it is this familiarity and trust that Posts are looking to capitalize upon as they expand into new business areas.
Massimo Sarmi, CEO of PosteItaliane, sees the crisis as "an opportunity to move into new types of services like hybrid mail, data storage for businesses, or services like PosteMobile, the ‘virtual counter' mobile telephone service for bill payments or money transfers. New technologies offer the same services as at post office counters: paying for a parcel or printing off a delivery confirmation via your mobile phone is becoming a possibility.
Alexander Kisselev, Director General of Russian Post, declared that his business, which is currently undergoing restructuring, had turned its first ever profit last year in spite of the crisis. Future plans to beat the financial crisis hinged on increased automation – with the opening of two new sorting centres in Moscow and St Petersburg – and the creation of regional banks to develop the operator's financial services activities.
Jean-Paul Bailly of France's La Poste, whose Banque Postale division is thriving, saw the crisis as an accelerator of reforms such as the development of integrated services for businesses, address management, and the possibility of offering customers a full range of financial services, including consumer credit. He also proposed the establishment of a "European consortium to start building an electric utility vehicle".
Meanwhile, the head of the Dutch Post, Peter Bakker, wanted to use the current instability as an opportunity to make far-reaching changes to the network and offer private and business customers alternative products, particularly in the express parcels market.