Russian Post is reportedly planning to offer next-day deliveries across Moscow for e-retailcustomers from the first quarter of 2015 when its new logistics centre at the Vnukovo Airport in
Moscow is due to start operations, a move that could threaten online-retailers’ existing deliveryarrangements, observers believe. Meanwhile, Russian Post’s measures to improve its delivery qualityshow signs of paying off, with the number of complaints decreasing substantially.Alexander Ivanov, President of the National Distance Trade Association, told the Russiannewspaper Kommersant: “If Russian Post succeeds in extending the next-day service to other regionsbeyond Moscow, this might seriously hit the delivery services of internet shops.”
He explained that 43% of the parcels in big cities including Moscow were currently delivered byonline retailers’ own couriers, but Russian Post would represent an increasing threat if it managedto provide a competitive service.
However, online shoppers currently pay less for the delivery by the couriers of the online shopsthan the equivalent service would cost if provided by Russian Post. “The difference is not verybig, but the clients feel it in the pockets,” Ivanov added.
Russian Post has successfully implemented measures to improve its service quality, with thenumber of complaints regarding international deliveries having decreased by more than three timesin absolute terms during the last year and by six times with regard to incoming internationalshipments to Russia.
Based on June 2014, the number of complaints regarding delivery of international mail by RussianPost was under 3,500, which equals 0.06% of the nearly 6 million incoming international shipments.During the second quarter of 2014, the ratio of complaints with regard to mail volumes amounted to0.07%, which Russian Post claimed was in line with the rate registered by big internationalplayers. During the corresponding quarter last year, this ratio was much higher, standing at 0.42%,when postal import volumes were more than 50% lower than the current international mailvolumes.
The total number of written complaints to Russian Post by consumers during the first half ofthis year decreased 37% compared to the same period last year, the company said. Russian Posthighlighted improvements in the infrastructure of international mail exchange, delivery logisticsand increased controls in terms of shipment safety as the main factors contributing to the positiveresult.
Russian Post Deputy CEO Alexey Skatin said: “Our main goal is to ensure that mail reachesrecipients safely and on time. This will increase consumer confidence in the post and will enablemore of our citizens to profit from international and domestic postal services and online trade.”& amp; amp; amp; amp; amp; amp; lt; /p>
In an additional effort to optimise its efficiency and operations, Russian Post is reportedlyplanning to decrease the number of staff by nearly 30% in the next ten years from the current levelof 350,000 to 276,000, which would be the largest personnel restructuring in recent years,Kommersant reported.
Deputy Communications Minister Mikhail Yevraev told Kommersant: “The staff number reduction willnot be due to redundancies but the elimination of vacancies resulting from retirements.”
At the same time, the salary of the remaining staff is due to double. In line with the strategyto transform the Russian postal operator into a profitable and efficient business, the basic salarywill rise to RUB 37,000 (€762.93) in 2018, he reportedly said. At the same time, the labourproductivity at Russian Post is also due to more than double through process optimisation andfurther training of employees.
