La Poste envisions the multi-function mail carrier

By BENJAMIN DUBRULLE, (translated from) LA VOIX DU NORD

“By 2015, there will be a decrease of 30% in the volume of mail distributed” says Christine Leturcq, director of mail for the Pas-de-Calais. Add to that a new deal: Since January 1st, 2011, the market in Europe is opened to competition. La Poste has lost its monopoly over mail distribution. So to avoid an uncertain future, the group decided to build a strategy. Code named: “2015, Reinventing the mail.”

The mail has become an advertising media that we must be able to distribute. “First line of work, the commercial side. Basically: the advertisements you receive to your home, whether or not they are addressed. The global market for direct mail is estimated at 30 billion euros. For La Poste, this represents $ 1.9 billion. Knowing that the market grows about 1.5% per year, this niche seems to be a good track.

Second track, the world of business, that is to say the management of contracts for others (mobile phone bills for example). The market is 33 billion euros. La Poste takes 7.6 billion. Knowing that in a bill, some customers may place some advertisement, the two tracks are complementary.

Finally, the third track, local logistics. The postman goes by every home everyday, and he or she can serve as a bridge between a company or agency and their customers. This market is 10 billion euros, 10% for La Poste.

Multi-function mail carrier

We have seen that the distribution of mail is declining. It means finding new missions for its mail carriers. “The important thing is to find additional activities for our agents in order to keep them full-time”, explained Lawrence Poirier, director of La Poste in the Pas-de-Calais. Then, the new generation mail carrier will soon reach you. It has already happened recently during the transition to digital television, when mail carriers went to persons at risk to install decoders. “In the Pas-de-Calais, that’s two thousand connections”, says Christine Leturcq.

A new agreement has been reached between the College of Pharmacists and La Poste where the mail carriers are now able to deliver drugs at home. For now, in the department (of the Pas-de-Calais), only one pharmacy in the city of Annezin is participating. Ten other contracts are being finalized. “This service is paid by the pharmacist in order to build customer loyalty and help seniors who can not move.

Still in the area of assistance to seniors for some time, La Poste has partnered with local associations to visit the elderly during periods of hot weather to ensure they are well. “We do our public service duty. We also propose to collect gas meter data. “The mail carrier is also the official supplier of calendars featuring cats and dogs. But we already knew that… •