Austrian Post today unveiled a new medium-term strategy focusing on parcels, combi-freight ande-commerce as its key future growth drivers to compensate for the structural decline in the mail
business.The partly-privatised postal operator aims to generate overall average annual revenue growthof 1%-2% and maintain an operating profit margin (EBITDA) in the 10%-12% range. The group aims toincrease annual parcel revenues by some 6%-9% but expects mail revenues to decline by 3%-5% a year.
CEO Georg Pölzl said the medium-term strategy is designed to make the group fit for thefuture in the light of the upcoming liberalisation of the Austrian postal market. The fourcornerstones of the new strategy are to defend its clear leadership of the Austrian mail andparcels market, to grow selectively in specific markets, to improve operational efficiency and tostrengthen customer focus and innovation.
“We have set ambitious goals for ourselves. In order to achieve this, the entire company andparticularly our domestic business operations will have to undergo a far-reaching reorientation,placing much more emphasis on consumer-friendly services. We will decisively confront the risksarising from e-substitution and liberalisation and persistently exploit our growth opportunities,”he declared.
Austrian Post will pursue growth in selected segments. The priority will be on the Parcel andLogistics Division, focusing on further expanding the combined freight temperature-controlledlogistics and B2B/B2C parcel segments in Austria and Germany as well as in South/Eastern Europe.The internationalisation of trade flows and the ongoing surge in Internet shopping will drivefuture growth in the parcels segment, the company pointed out.
In the mail market, the company sees both opportunities and challenges resulting from fullpostal liberalisation on January 1, 2011, and the substitution of letters by electronic media.International estimates forecast that these trends could result in a 3-7% annual decline in lettermail volumes, it noted.
Customer requirements are also further developing. On the one hand, the new digitalopportunities are raising customer expectations in respect to online convenience. On the otherhand, increasing importance is being attached to values such as confidentiality, data security andreliability of services.
“Austrian Post is a company with a long-standing tradition, which stands for confidentiality,reliability and efficiency. These are values which will be more in demand than ever before,” saidPölzl. The company could leverage these advantages to combine speed, convenience and easyaccessibility with data security and privacy protection, he stressed.
Austrian Post aims to be the undisputed number one in respect to sending or receiving postalitems and information, whether physically or electronically. It will thus develop innovationthroughout its business system and drive forward a broad-based service campaign. This includes anonline initiative designed to increase the convenience of conventional postal services and newdigital products in the field of electronic services.
At the same time, the postal group wants to increasingly prioritise customer preferences andrequirements by launching a service offensive for all its products and services. The primary aim isto make the service offering clearer and easier to use, reduce complexity and offer customers allservices under one roof, whether physical delivery of mail or in the form of electronicservices.
“In the future, the customer will be able to receive his mail items through the online portalof Austrian Post, enjoying the same protected private sphere as in his own living room“, Pölzlexplained. In an initial step in this direction, Austrian Post is offering customers, effectiveimmediately, the opportunity to conveniently and securely request various postal services fromtheir own homes, for example mail forwarding or vacation hold mail.
“But this is only the first step,” Pölzl stated. “Our future portfolio will be moreindividually tailored to specific customer requirements. For example, the sender will be able tofreely choose whether his mail is to be printed and enveloped or sent as an electronic file.Customers will also be able to configure parcel delivery options online, from packaging to theelectronic parcel stamp. The recipient can decide how and where he wants to get his personal mail –to his own residence, place of work, to his preferred post office or from parcel “dispensers”.Alternatively, mail could be sent directly to a secure online portal of Austrian Post. In this way,Austrian Post offers its customers the highest possible level of convenience.”
Parallel to this service offensive, Austrian Post plans to further significantly increase itslogistics and delivery efficiency to maintain its clear cost leadership in Austria. Key measuresinclude the ongoing improvement of the distribution network, further expansion of the branchnetwork while integrating more entrepreneurial models, and targeting cost reduction inadministration costs and sourcing volumes.
