Swiss Post has unveiled plans to spend about CHF 20 million in improving letter and parcel servicesfor consumers.
The Swiss postal group said it aimed to strengthen its leadership position in its four corebusinesses with high levels of service quality. The measures will improve access and services bothin urban and rural areas.
From September 5, 2011 onwards, 93% of letters will be collected from postboxes after 17.00.The number of postboxes with an evening collection at 19.00 will rise by 139 to 457, and the numberwith a Sunday collection at 17.00 will increase by 143 to 396 locations. Swiss Post will spend anextra CHF 8 million a year for this measure so that it can offer postboxes with attractivecollection times at central locations in all regions in future.
Moreover, Swiss Post intends to further improve its high level of reliability in letterprocessing and delivery by investing in state-of-the-art technology at letter centres and inemployee training. As part of the technology investment, identification chips on letter containerswill allow mail to be better monitored in future and will mean that user errors can be rectified ina targeted manner. Such measures are intended to retain the appeal of letter mail going forward.
Swiss Post also intends to better meet the needs of its customers with regard to parcels. Itthus plans to increase the number of PickPost points from 350 (at present) to around 500. Customerswho are unable to collect their consignments during the day can make use of this free service topick up their parcels and registered letters at a time and place to suit them. Aside fromconventional post offices, collection points may also include train stations, newsstands andfilling stations.
To make it easier for customers to mail their consignments, Swiss Post has also extendedacceptance times for PostPac Priority mail at 64 post offices in Switzerland. More than 200 postoffices now accept parcels up to 16.00 for next-day delivery. The popular Swiss Post app directscustomers to the nearest post office offering this service. As of 5 September 2011, both the SwissPost portal and the Swiss Post app will also include a location search function for postboxes.
