Packstations are well known, thousands of these large yellow parcel machines are located at gas stations, train stations or supermarkets. Swiss Post is now focusing on a different type of machine.
Deutsche Post is accelerating the expansion of its ATM network. After increasing the number of its Packstations, which are only intended for parcels, to currently more than 12,000 and plans to increase this further to 15,000, it announced plans for a different type of machine. At so-called post offices, you can not only pick up and drop off parcels around the clock, you can also buy stamps, post letters and get video advice via a screen. Swiss Post currently has around 100 such machines, and it is expected to increase to 1,000 in the next few years.
The first post stations went into operation in February 2021. According to the group’s findings, most customers who know such a machine are satisfied with it. The customers want digital, modern and smart solutions, says the postal manager responsible, Holger Bartels. “Above all, there is increasing demand for the option of being able to use postal services and products 24/7.” The post goes into that.
Post has obligations to fulfill
In the future, machines could also become more important for Swiss Post for another reason. As a so-called universal service provider, the company has to fulfill obligations. For example, there must be post offices in all larger villages – these are mostly retailers who also have a post office in their shop.
However, as there are fewer and fewer supermarkets and grocers in the villages due to structural change in the countryside, the Post Office is looking in vain for business partners in some places. Therefore, she cannot fulfill said duty in some places. With the upcoming postal law reform, machines could possibly be counted towards a statutory mandatory presence in rural areas. So far, the machines have played no role in this.
Competition from the post office not so far
The Swiss Post’s competitors are far from that far when it comes to vending machines. The mail-order company Amazon, which carries out some of its orders with its own deliverers, relies on “Amazon Locker” to a limited extent. Hermes and DPD undertook tests with machines, but ultimately left them alone. Instead, they rely on parcel shops – i.e. retailers where you can pick up parcels during opening hours. There are also options like this at Swiss Post.
The FDP member of the Bundestag Reinhard Houben welcomes the investments in the post offices. “In the future we will have more and more automated services in Germany because we don’t have enough workers who still do it manually,” says the liberal. It is important that postal services remain available nationwide. However, Houben points out that machines are problematic for certain sections of the population who are overwhelmed by them and prefer to speak to a human. You have to keep this in mind.
Source: Stern
