Private Polish mail operator InPost is investing €40 million in setting up a nationwide parcelsdelivery network using automated collection boxes to target the country’s booming e-commerce
market.The Polish e-commerce market was worth an estimated €4 billion last year and is growing at highdouble-digit rates, CEO Rafal Brzoska told the European Postal Services conference in Brusselsyesterday. This target market currently generates about 26 million parcels a year compared to thefigure of 140 million standard parcels, he pointed out.
InPost aims to capture a large share of the e-commerce parcel market and generate up to 30% ofits revenues from non-mail activities in the future, he said. The company will invest a total of€40 million over the next two years in the parcels business, he pointed out.
Since launching its parcels service last November, InPost has installed ‘Paczkomaty’ automatedcollection machines in about 250 locations in 50 cities and towns. This figure will rise to about450 sites by June and a nationwide network of 800 locations will be completed by the end of nextyear, Brzoska said. The Polish-made terminals are mostly located at petrol stations, offering 24/7access for customers to pick up their parcels.
InPost offers a guaranteed 48-hour delivery service, but in fact 96.7% of parcels are deliveredinto the Paczkomaty within 24 hours, Brzoska said. Poczta Polska normally takes three days todeliver a parcel, he commented. Customers receive notification by SMS or e-mail that their goodsare available for collection, and most customers pick up their goods in the evening.
“We are sure this is the way to give customers what they want,” he stated. InPost offerscompetitive prices to Polish and international e-commerce shippers, he added.
In the mail market, where InPost competes with the public postal operator Poczta Polska, thecompany is still growing strongly. Last year it had about 10 million items a month, and expects tonearly double this to 19 million monthly pieces in 2010, Brzoska said. New mail services this yearwill include electronic documents, mobile payment and hybrid mail, he disclosed.
