Letter volumes have been falling for years owing to digitalization and the changing needs and habits of customers. The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated the decline. Social mail has decreased more than business mail, partly because some documents need to be physically signed and delivered by law. Domestic letter-post volumes fell by about 4.9% in 2018 and by 13.6% in 2020. International letter-post volumes have continued to decrease by 3% every year. Letter post still makes up the biggest share of postal operators' revenue; however, it fell from an average of 35.4% in 2019 to 32.7% in 2020 – the lowest ever share. In parallel, parcels and logistics make up a growing part of postal operators' income (30%).

Postal operators need to find ways to keep the letter-post market alive by introducing new and innovative features, products and services. A number of strategies that DOs could consider to develop the traditional letter-post (documents) market include:

 

• Investing in digitalization;
• Introducing cost-cutting measures and utilizing operational synergies;
• Enhancing quality/speed of service through operational optimization and IT solutions;
• Focusing on certain customer segments and investing in sustainability;
• Diversifying services with a menu of value-added features.