Estonian Post generated parcel volume growth of 25% from mail order shipments sent to Europe,including Russia, in 2011 compared to 2010.
The strong increase in parcel volumes was mainly due to rapid growth in internationale-commerce, more effective and reliable cooperation between postal operators in Europe andincreased number of online orders boosted by the possibility to return the ordered goods for free,the Estonian postal operator explained.
Most of the items imported to Estonia were ordered from the UK, Germany, Finland, USA, China,Sweden and Hong Kong. Volumes from China and Hong Kong showed the fastest growth with an increaseof about 50% compared to the previous year.
As for outbound shipments from Estonia to international destinations, most parcels were sent toGermany, Norway, Russia and Finland with volumes increasing 40%, 30%, 20% and 15% respectively.Sweden was also among the countries Eesti Post sent the most parcels to.
The volume increases from the EU are partly thanks to simpler postal customs procedures than forfreight. For example, parcels to Russia sent by post up to a certain value are duty free, EestiPost said.
The company added that it has made efforts to improve parcel shipping processes for corporatecustomers through a convenient and secure web platform e-EPLIS that enables preparing shipmentseasily in advance.
Last month, Estonian Post expanded its parcel services with new parcel terminals acrossLithuania comprising a network of 35 facilities after it announced a €1.2 million profit for 2011.The postal operator has already set up 38 terminals in Estonia. The ‘easyPack’ self-service parcelterminals were installed by InPost, the fast-growing Polish private postal group, through itsparent company Integer.
