Postal Hub podcast: Recent Episodes
Postal Hub Podcast
Phil Sambrook, EMEA Transport and Logistics Strategy at Zebra, discusses technology in the middle mile and last mile. We cover:
- The demand for speed
- How the middle mile sets up the last mile for success
- Using data to reduce WISMO queries
- Implementing technologies in sorting centres
- Productivity gains through implementing RFID
- Removing manual tasks through readily available automation technology
- Supply chain integrity improvements through machine vision and data driven insights
- Improving working conditions and safety for warehouse workers
- FedEx case study - photo proof of delivery with integrated AI
- Improving reliability and accuracy of photos, along with customer data security
- Evri case study - self-service parcel drop-off solution
- Queue busting and reducing waste
Episode sponsored by Zebra. Visit zebra.com for more information.
Kate Muth, Executive Director at International Mailers Advisory Group (IMAG) brings us up-to-date with the latest news on de minimis and EU customs reform.
- Indefinite suspension on US de minimis
- Customs and Border Protection (CBP) testing new informal entry type for shipments under $2500
- Changes to de minimis around the world
- Implications for postal operators
- Tariffs and the post
- De minimis exemption for genuine gifts
- EU customs reform
- Impact on goods under €150 entering the EU
- DDP, DDU, and EU customs reform
- Other cross-border and customs news
Scott Ashbaugh, CEO of DHL eCommerce Americas, discusses DHL's deal with the USPS and future trends in the US parcels market. We cover: * A brief overview of DHL eCommerce Americas and its B2C delivery business * The $10bn deal with US Postal Service * How the partnership with the USPS works * Direct injection of DHL parcels via USPS Parcel Select into USPS facilities * How DHL eCommerce decided to partner with the USPS * The reach and reputation of the USPS * The future of the US parcel market * The gig economy model's need for scale and its expansion issues in the USA * Light and heavy parcels in the US parcel market * DHL's history with smaller packages, and its growth to take on larger parcels * Impact of COVID on automation and flexibility * Using AI in back office operations * Role of AI in sorting * DHL eCommerce partnering with universities
Kristof Horvat, Innovation Projects at Eurosender, discusses solving fragmented cross-border e-commerce parcel delivery.
- Cross-border pain points for SMEs that are growing
- Contrast between domestic e-commerce and expanding into cross-border e-commerce
- Problems merchants face in managing multiple carriers across different countries
- Understanding parcel pricing, surcharges and dynamic pricing
- The role of platforms in cross-border e-commerce delivery
- The different kinds of platforms available to e-commerce sellers How postal operators can help e-commerce sellers expand beyond their domestic market
- Options available to postal operators for better international coverage
- Post Luxembourg case study
Postal and delivery expert Alan Barrie discusses the UK delivery scene, with a particular focus on out-of-home delivery.
- How InPost and Amazon fired up out-of-home delivery in the UK
- Royal Mail's Deliver to Neighbour service
- Mapping parcel delivery in London
- The inconvenience of online shopping
- Residential parcel lockers for home delivery
- Future of e-commerce parcel delivery
- When consumers order heavy or bulky goods online
- Helping shoppers make the delivery choice that's right for them
- Carbon measurement tools in delivery
- Outlandish claims about sustainability in delivery
- Nationwide walkable networks
Dean Maciuba, Founding Partner at Crossroads Parcel Consulting, discusses the future of out-of-home delivery in the USA. * What the FedEx-InPost transaction means for FedEx exposure in Europe * Learning from InPost about parcel locker operations * The opportunity for parcel lockers in the USA * Future opportunities to combine FedEx and InPost operations in Europe * FedEx and Flying Tigers * Parcel locker failures in the USA * Targeted rollout of parcel lockers in key US markets * FedEx's existing PUDO relationship with retailers * Partnering with retailers or the USPS for parcel lockers * Are parcels a priority for PUDO partner retailers? * Is 24-hour access really a selling point? * USPS and parcel lockers * Leveraging the USPS post office network for parcels * Understanding US consumer behaviour in parcels= * Residential and rural delivery surcharges * UPS and FedEx and e-commerce parcel delivery density * Consolidating deliveries to out-of-home parcel collection points * Residential parcel lockers
Julia Lockman, Junior Partner at OMNIC, explains how a parcel locker system is more than just infrastructure. We cover the key considerations for building a successful and coherent parcel locker system.
- There's no one-size-fits-all guide to launching a parcel locker network - context is crucial
- A systematic approach is needed when building a parcel locker network
- Start with the data, including peak volumes, customer ha
- Systems shape consumer behaviour
- Systems have measurable value, both for customers and for network operators
- Parcel locker systems must be natural - they don't care about the same things that delivery companies care about!
- Importance of external factors, such as access, car parking
- Choosing the right locker network for the market
- Factors such as climate and lifestyle have a huge impact on parcel locker networks
- Using data to increase chances of success in parcel lockers
- Interpreting data to build good business processes
- User experience is more than just the customer interface - processes are important
- Analytics should support forecasting, capacity planning, and proactive intervention
- How analytics can support decision logic, such as maximising utilisation rate
- Using data to optimise parcel locker networks, e.g. location management
- Parcel lockers aren't automatically "green" - customer behaviour and location management are crucial
- Bad decisions can destroy network efficiency
Khazalin Ghuzal, Chief Retail Officer at Pos Malaysia, shares how Malaysia's postal operator is working to create a modern postal retail network. This interview was recorded at the 6th International Postal Retail Benchmarking Workshop held in Ljubljana in 2025.
In this conversation, we cover:
- Overview of the Pos Malaysia post office network
- Mobile post office services and technology
- USO for postal access
- The challenge of declining footfall
- Pos Shop concept - monetising unutilised space in post offices
- Customer behaviour and convenience
- PUDO partner pilot programme
- Self-service options to assist with queue management
- The omnichannel experience
- Creating a super app
Mindaugas Cerpickis, Partner at Copenhagen Economics, and Jacob Østermann, Lead Economist at Copenhagen Economics, analyse the changes in the Danish letters market, including PostNord's exit.
- Recap of the USO shake-up in 2024
- Alternative letter delivery service via DAO
- Targeted measures for shipments for the blind, letters to island communities, and international mail
- Service levels post-abolition of the USO
- Letter pricing over past two years
- Exemptions from Denmark's mandated digital mailbox
- Frequency of letter delivery
- How inbound and outbound international mail is handled after PostNord exited domestic letter delivery
- PostNord Denmark's defunct street posting boxes
- International parcels
- Lessons to be learned from the Denmark example
- How DAO is able to deliver letters, despite not being the traditional postal operator
Jakub Rymkiewicz, Market Research Manager at the IPC, shares some key findings from IPC's Cross-Border E-commerce Shopper Survey 2025.
- China's continued dominance in cross-border e-commerce
- Growth of Chinese marketplaces - in particular Temu
- Delivery speed for cross-border orders
- Shrinking delivery times from China
- Moving fulfilment centres closer to the consumer
- EU fees on cross-border orders
- Trends in delivery locations, including out-of-home delivery
- Continuing prevalence of residential delivery in some markets
- What powered growth in parcel locker usage
- Dwell time for out-of-home delivery
- How consumers travel to out-of-home delivery points for parcel collection
- Cross-border returns, including paid returns
- Retailers targeting serial returners
- Sustainable cross-border e-commerce delivery
- Who should fund sustainability in delivery?
Miloš Zlatković (Mily Technologies), Erik Wilhelm (Kyburz), Gordon Steward (The Information Factory), and Jorn Spiertz (Shiptimize) discuss delivery technology. This special episode was recorded at the OMNIC stand at Parcel+Post Expo 2025. Miloš Zlatković, Founder & CEO at Mily Technologies, covers practical applications of AI in the postal, delivery and last mile space: * Moving fast with the right data set * Using AI to select OOH delivery partner locations * Leveraging publicly available data
Erik Wilhelm, Head of Research at Kyburz, discusses electric delivery vehicles:
- Factors driving interest in electric delivery vehicles
- Trend towards carrying greater parcel volumes in EVs
- Increase in battery capacity
- Experience with Swiss Post in battery life
- Customising to different local operating environments
Gordon Steward from The Information Factory discusses analysing delivery costs:
- Understanding direct and indirect costs in parcel networks
- Updating underlying costs
- Identifying and analysing potential cost savings
Jorn Spiertz, co-founder and COO at Shiptimize, covers shipping technology, inclyding:
- Automating delivery solutions
- The post-purchase experience
- Understanding e-commerce marketplaces
Part 2 of 2025's end-of-year special features Jonathan Bouaziz (Kardinal), Peter Balfour (imageHOLDERS), Clemens Beckman (Greenplan), and Amanda Martinez (HubBox).
Jonathan Bouaziz, co-CEO at Kardinal, discusses the e-commerce boom and being prepared for a volatile 2026:
- Emerging trends in cross-border fees, especially in Europe
- How consumers might perceive the €3 fee
- How Chinese marketplaces might adapt to changes
- Opportunity to reinvent delivery
- Fast, free delivery, or green delivery?
- The attitude-behaviour gap in green delivery
- Why can some last mile operators better adapt to shifts in the operating environment?
- Taking control instead of being reactive
Peter Balfour, VP Postal Sales at imageHOLDERS, covers helping customers adopt self-service in the post office:
- Getting the customer journey right
- Educate customers on self-service solutions
- Accessibility
- Importance of easy-to-use software
- Customising self-service for each post office network
Clemens Beckmann, CEO at Greenplan, discusses route optimisation:
- Planning and execution of planned routes
- Incorporating time windows into route management
- Real-time updating of stop sequences
- Helping the driver
- Avoiding time violations
Amanda Martinez, Network Partner Director at HubBox, on out-of-home delivery and the checkout experience:
- Offering OOH delivery at checkout in various markets
- Improving the user experience when selecting delivery locations
- Best practice in dynamic delivery selection
- Remembering customer delivery preferences
Part 1 of 2025's end-of-year special features Mark Fallon, President and CEO of the Berkshire Company, and Cathy Morrow Roberson, Founder at Logistics Trends & Insights.
Mark Fallon discusses news from the US postal sector, including:
- The new USPS Postmaster General and his vision for the postal service
- Industry reaction to the new PMG
- Leveraging the USPS post office and last mile networks
- USPS Board of Governors update
- Letter volume trends
- Stakeholder resources
Cathy Morrow Roberson discusses developments in heavy and bulk last mile delivery:
- Trends in outsourcing vs insourcing of delivery
- Value added services
- Case studies of Tractor Supply, Costco, Wayfair
- Big and bulky returns
Carmen Cureu, Market Research Director at Geopost, unpacks Geopost's most recent e-shopper barometer research, covering parcel lockers, returns, consumer communications and more.
- Key factors driving e-commerce, including convenience and price
- Parcel volumes and online shopper numbers in Europe
- Consumer delivery preferences and out-of-home delivery
- Growth in popularity of parcel lockers and parcel shops (PUDO points)
- Generational trends in e-commerce and delivery
- Factors influencing e-commerce return volumes
- Role of OOH in returns
- Cross-border shopping behaviour
- Delivery expectations for consumers who shop cross-border
- Electronic communications preferences, especially for younger shoppers
- Out-of-hours customer support
- Rising expectations of delivery
Bloq.it CRO João Lopes on finding locations for parcel lockers, maximising parcel locker usage, e-commerce returns, drop-boxes, secondhand marketplaces, and more.
- Priorities for setting up a parcel locker network, in particular proximity
- Analysing customer behaviour to determine locker locations
- Understanding why some parcel locker locations won't work
- Autonomous parcel lockers, including batteries and solar power
- Maximising parcel locker usage, including e-commerce returns
- Drop box solution and dealing with non-standard return parcels
- Monitoring and clearing drop boxes
- Drop boxes in parcel shops (PUDO points)
- Busting queues and improving customer experience
- Second hand marketplaces and parcel lockers
- Bringing hardware and software expertise to parcel and postal operators
CTT Chief Financial Officer Guy Pacheco discusses the transformation of Portugal's national postal operator. We cover:
- Significant events that started CTT thinking about transformation
- Key pillars underpinning CTT's transformation
- Importance of the pan-Iberian market in CTT's transformation efforts
- Designing a B2C-ready network covering all of Spain and Portugal
- Perception of Iberia as a single market
- Making CTT more customer-centric
- M&A as a competitive advantage and gaining new capabilities
- CTT's acquisitions, partnerships and joint ventures, including logistics, insurance, customs clearance, and the DHL JV
- The future for letters, and continuing to be the USO provider
Laura Shields and Garrett Byrne from An Post, along with Peter DeSantis from Giro, share how An Post was able to deliver 48% more parcels to more delivery points without increasing the number of hours worked in its last mile delivery network. * Taking a test-and-learn approach to route optimisation and network design * Key pressure points for An Post, including falling letter volumes, growth in parcel volumes, and dealing with fixed costs in a competitive market * Parcel growth trends for An Post * Implementing change across numerous sites * Need to keep staff and unions engaged during periods of change * Creating a fair day's work for workers * Merging collections and delivery in route optimisation * Redesigning the last mile to reflect current letter/parcel mix * Tuning Giro's Georoute solution for different postal operators * Early buy-in from senior An Post executives * National Route Design project objectives * Parcel volumes up 48%, with 8% increase in delivery points, but final mile hours have not increased * The need to stretch for peak season * Tips for last mile transformation success
This episode is sponsored by GIRO. GIRO's route optimisation solution GeoRoute has been deployed by some of the world's most advanced postal and parcel networks. For more information about GIRO, visit giro.ca
Kate Muth, Executive Director at IMAG (International Mailers Advisory Group), shares an update on tariffs, de minimis, and international low value parcels. * Update on US Supreme Court hearings on tariffs * Next steps for US tariffs * Expectations and timings * Scope of Supreme Court case * What happens if the Supreme Court rules the President doesn't have power to impose tariffs? * The prospect of a refund process * Separate de minimis case * Postal operators collecting and remitting US duties for postal items * Low value goods in the international postal stream * UK low value threshold for customs duties * EU customs reforms and parcel fees
Why is out-of-home delivery popular in Norway? And can parcel lockers work in the freezing cold? Håvard Femtehjell, Head of Parcel Locker Development at Posten Bring, discusses:
- Overview of Posten's out-of-home delivery network, including parcel lockers and parcel collection points
- Long-term trends in out-of-home delivery in Norway
- Delivering small packets with letters
- Partnering for retailers parcel collection points
- Finding parcel locker locations
- Parcel locker performance in very cold climates
- Evolution of customer delivery preferences
- Role of proximity in customer delivery preferences
- Competition in the last mile in Norway, including from PostNord and Instabox
- Strategies to reduce parcel dwell times - especially during peak season
- Increasing parcel network utilisation during peak season
Håvard is one of the many expert speakers appearing at Parcel+Post Expo this year. Go to ParcelAndPostExpo.com for more information about this year's event being held in Amsterdam from 21 to 23 October.
Tim Davies, Head of Out of Home and SME Accounts at DPD UK, talks about PUDOs, parcel lockers, and out-of-home delivery. We cover: * Growth in DPD UK's out-of-home delivery network * Composition of the OOH network * How the DPD Parcel Shop PUDO relationship works * Partnerships with major retailers * Exclusivity vs carrier-neutral PUDO approach from retailers * DPD UK's relationship with the UK Post Office - more than just PUDOs * In-store parcel scanning technology, including integrations * Trends in UK OOH delivery, including parcel lockers * Retailers' interest in OOH delivery * Returns via OOH * In-flight parcel redirections and DPD UK's OOH network * Consumer notifications * Dealing with customer complaints * The customer experience * Redirecting undelivered parcels to PUDO points
Tim is one of the many expert speakers appearing at Parcel and Post Expo this year. Go to ParcelAndPostExpo.com for more information about this year's event being held in Amsterdam from 21 to 23 October.
President Trump has decided to suspend duty-free de minimis for the USA, effective 29 August. Aaron Bezzant, Head of Supply Chain at Zonos, discusses the background to the President's Executive Order, what it means for e-commerce and the postal world, and what steps need to be taken to be compliant. * The details of President Trump's Executive Order * Previous attempt at eliminating de minimis for the postal stream * Customs and Border Protection and USPS collection processes * Duties for China Post and Hongkong Post shipments * Tactics used to exploit previous de minimis crackdown on Chinese-made goods * Compliance that has to be in place to meet 29 August deadline * Effective mandate on DDP * Bona fide gift exemption for low-value items * How postal operators can start the journey to be compliant by 29 August * Temporary simplified tariffs * Remittance requirements and options from 29 August * MFN and IEEPA tariff rates * Role of third party in collecting funds and remitting to CBP * Who ends up paying the duties? * How Zonos can help pre-collect duties and taxes * Why building a postal DDP network is central to winning in e-commerce delivery * The importance of DDP for goods shipped to the USA * Zonos tools and systems for postal operators for handling tariffs, including collection * Other Zonos tools for posts to help e-commerce retailers * Zonos app to facilitate over-the-counter lodgement of international parcels * Simplifying the start online finish in-store process for post office parcel lodgement * Helping postal operators no matter what stage of the digital transformation journey they're at * Simple calculation tools
Dr Selene Silvestri, Research Scientist at the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, discusses the environmental impact of e-commerce packaging.
- Measuring the cost of e-commerce packaging
- Growth in e-commerce and impact on packaging
- Benefits of recycling cardboard packaging
- E-commerce shifting the cardboard recycling burden from retailers to consumers
- Obstacles to higher recycling rates
- Current models to encourage recycling
- Regulations on reducing empty space in parcels
- Reducing the weight of packaging
- Reverse logistics framework to support recycling
- Efficiency and convenience of doorstep recycling collection
- Reusable packaging
- Consolidated recycling drop-off points
Roel Gevaers, professor in last mile logistics and supply chain at the university of Antwerp, discusses moves to impose fees on inbound low-value parcels from outside the EU. * EU and EC proposal to add €2 fee for inbound international parcels * Fee for cross-dock parcels from overseas * Focus on import-free parcels * Huge volumes of Chinese parcels entering Europe each year * EU and EC intentions with this fee - is it a symbolic action? * Timeframes - contrasting Europe with the USA * Future plans for full customs reform * Consumer protection and standards * How the €2 fee will be collected * Passing costs on to the consumer * Likelihood of impact on low-value cross-border parcel volumes * Impact of US tariffs on Chinese exports to other nations * Is the proposed fee legal? * EU member countries' responsibilities for customs
Also in this episode: An update on Belgium's legislation compelling parcel locker networks to be carrier neutral.
Lars Pruijn, Innovation Director at Prime Vision, breaks down different aspects of innovation and describes how innovation can work in the postal and logistics sectors.
- How do we define innovation
- Taking responsibility for innovation in the company
- Internal innovation - optimising and increase
- External innovation: core, adjacent, and transformative innovation
- Adding new technology to existing products
- Reshaping products and keeping core products relevant
- Being disruptive in specific markets or segments
- How can companie stimulate innovation?
- Internal and external cooperation on innovation
- Innovating with clients - not innovation in a basement.
- Case study of innovation in automated sorting
- Computer vision applied to sorting machines to detect sorting errors
- Hazardous material detection and computer vision
- Reading difficult barcodes
Jan Van Roey, Head of International at Poste Italiane, discusses cross-border parcel volumes and recent improvements to digital customer experience. He covers: * Cross-border volume growth * New Poste Italiane outbound international product * Domestic parcel trends * Coping with volatility and uncertainty in international parcels * Retailers moving warehouses to Europe * Poste Italiane's partnership with DHL eCommerce for inbound and outbound * Locker Italia joint venture in parcel lockers with DHL * Strategic reasons for setting up partnerships * Parcel lockers and international delivery * Recent changes to Poste Italiane's app and digital customer experience
Rohit Gunavanthe, Head of Fulfilment at Pos Malaysia, discusses the postal operator’s e-commerce fulfilment business Pos Fulfill.
- Background to creation of Pos Fulfill
- Storage, order fulfilment, pick and pack, real time inventory management, and end-to-end-logistics solutions
- Warehousing, customs clearance, in-store deliveries
- Geographic coverage across a diverse region, including East Malaysia
- Integrating with Pos Malaysia's distribution network
- Eight sites across Malaysia
- Cross-border capabilities
- Handling e-commerce returns, including inspecting returned items
- Business growth
- Importance of certainty of service
International postal expert Alan Barrie along with CEP-Research Chief Editor Paul Needham have their say on 10 years that have changed the delivery world. Alan Barrie discusses: * Keeping letters profitable to avoid draining postal businesses of cash * The e-commerce runaway train * Data and the digitisation of the post * Transformation in the last mile * Growth in out-of-home parcel delivery * Facilitating international e-commerce via data
Paul Needham covers: * Consumer behaviour changed by the pandemic * Overall parcel volume growth trend in B2C and B2B * International parcel flows and the growth in new lanes * Fast growth in China and Asia * Amazon's emergence challenging growth of traditional parcel carriers * The profitability challenge * Consolidation in the delivery sector * Postal privatisation * Diversification of last mile delivery options * Sustainability * Innovation and the impact on availability of labour
The third part of the 10-year anniversary series features Cathy Morrow Roberson, Managing Director at Logistics Trends and Insights, Mike Richmond VP Returns at Blue Yonder, and Mark Fallon President and CEO at the Berkshire Company.
Cathy Morrow Roberson discusses: * Competition in the last mile in the USA, and the death of the duopoly * Retailers building out their own last mile delivery networks * Role of gig workers in US last mile delivery * Regional parcel carriers * E-commerce returns, including returns policies and fraudulent returns
Mike Richmond covers: * Disruption in the last mile... and what has stayed the same * Evolution of out-of-home e-commerce delivery
Mark Fallon shares perspectives on: * The post and print industry's perfect storm: print technology, Louis DeJoy's plan for the USPS, and impact on tariffs on print * Previous review of the USPS in President Trump's first term, and current speculation on privatisation of the USPS
The second part of the 10-year anniversary series features Achim Dünnwald, Group Area Managing Director for Central Europe at GLS Group, Kate Muth, Executive Director at IMAG, and Brody Buhler, CEO at Escher Group.
Achim Dünnwald discusses:
- Drivers of B2C parcel volumes and the return to "normal" post-COVID-19
- The growing emphasis on demands for flexibility over speed and reliability in parcel delivery.
- Role of out-of-home delivery in fulfilling customer needs
- Retailers such as Temu and Shein driving volume
- The role of AI in delivery
Brody Buhler covers:
- Changes in how consumers buy online
- Inventory placement and fulfilment
- Competition in delivery - even from marketplaces and retailers - leading to fragmentation in the delivery market
- Importance of delivery speed to retailers
- How technology is changing the postal sector and last mile
- AI driving change in consumer interactions
Kate Muth discusses:
- The evolution of Advance Electronic Data, including UPU initiatives
- Data, tariffs, de minimis, and the global exchange of data
- Demand for information on "what's in the box"
The Postal Hub Podcast is 10 years old! To mark this milestone, postal and delivery experts from around the world are sharing their perspectives on the last 10 years in the sector. The first part of the series features Holger Winklbauer, CEO at International Post Corporation, along with international postal and delivery experts Peter Somers and Derek Osborn Peter Somers discusses: * Trends in e-commerce growth * Postal operators transforming to focus on parcels * Domestic vs cross-border parcels * Covid upending the delivery landscape * 20-minute delivery in UAE * Competition in the last mile * Response to declining letter volumes * Customer delivery preferences in Middle East, including residential vs out-of-home
Holger Winklbauer covers: * Small parcels originating from China in the international postal system * Demand for faster cross-border delivery * Changing international rates and impact on parcel flows * Role of consolidators, forwarders and airlines in cross-border e-commerce * Getting warehouses closer to customers * Online retailers taking logistics in-house
Derek Osborn discusses: * Change in the postal industry * Managing the USO * Culture change * Predictions of postal doom * Recognising the value of the post * Repositioning the post
Parcel volumes are fluctuating, there's downward pressure on parcel pricing, and staff retention is increasingly important in warehouses and sorting centres. Dirk Van Lammeren, Chief Commercial Officer at Prime Vision, shares how robotic sorting solutions enhance sorting centre operations. We cover: * The major challenges facing sorting and warehousing * Planning and organising challenges in warehouse operations * Investment considerations when planning sorting centres * Capacity and the pressure on pricing * Striking a balance between investment and looking for efficiencies * Growing industry focus on employee wellbeing * Role of warehouse tech in attracting and retaining staff * Shift from automating to reduce staff, to automating to help retain staff * Example of technology improving working conditions for staff * Robotic sorting - using autonomous machines to assist workers * Fully autonomous vehicles requiring no navigational assistance * Integrating robots with sorting systems (e.g. belts and chutes) * How robotic sorting can help with flexibility and volume * Improving throughput * Flexibility of robotic sorting, including moving sites * Worker safety in sorting centres * How staff interact with their robotic co-workers
Mario Treinen, Director Post Courrier and Logistics at Post Luxembourg and CEO of Inflow, talks about Post Luxembourg's big move into B2B parcels. * Letter volume trends in Luxembourg * Growth in B2C parcel volumes * The B2B parcels opportunity * Taking the B2C experience to B2B customers * Inflow subsidiary coming out of its Michel Greco business * Expanding beyond express B2B deliveries into transport and logistics * The full range of Inflow services, including temperature-controlled delivery, warehousing, customs services, and more * On-premises value added services for some customers * How the B2B and B2C businesses interact * Leveraging the postie network for selected B2B deliveries * Cross-border B2B opportunities, including European next-day * Managing mail rooms and other value added services
Kate Muth, Executive Director at IMAG, and Ellen McClain, Special Advisor to International Bridge and former deputy assistant secretary at Homeland Security, discuss reform of de minimis arrangements in the USA and Canada. * Future Borders Coalition report on low value shipments * History of de minimis in the USA * Purpose and current rules for de minimis shipments * Inbound de minimis volumes * Concerns about illegal and illicit goods being imported using de minimis * Benefits to consumers and some online sellers * Weaknesses in the current de minimis system * Areas that require reform, including poor data * Collecting better advance data on cross-border shipments * Using technology for pre-screening of goods prior to shipment * Pre-clearance of goods * Laws on fulfilling orders cross-border and eligibility for de minimis * Would harmonisation on European regulations assist? * Treatment of postal items vs courier items * Missing data elements on cross-border shipments * Difficulties in determining country of origin * Compliance tools
Professor John Colley from the Warwick Business School, discussing mergers and acquisitions in the food delivery sector. * Just Eat Takeaway's acquisition of GrubHub, and the pandemic demand for home delivery * Post-pandemic food delivery trends * Sale of GrubHub and Just Eat Takeaway's acquisition by Prosus * Immense demand for businesses in 2021 and early 2022 * Timing of M&A activity * Avoiding high prices in M&A * Factors that inflated GrubHub's value * Investors betting on industry consolidation * Does size matter in M&A, and how big is big? * Delivery companies being bought by private equity
Cathy Morrow Roberson, founder and principal at Logistics Trends and Insights, analyses UPS’s recent shift from Amazon to B2B parcels.
- UPS reducing its Amazon volumes by 50%
- Current Amazon volumes and revenue for UPS
- Amazon taking parcel volumes in-house
- Cost in the UPS network
- SurePost and the USPS announcement that discounts would cease
- SurePost pricing and destination regions
- UPS profitable parcels, parcel pricing, and the competition
- Growing emphasis on B2B delivery at UPS, including pharmaceutical and healthcare
- Return to the office edicts and consumer delivery preferences
- Retailers taking control of their own parcel volumes, eg Walmart Spark
Jenn Morris from Ship Happens joins us to analyse the opportunities for postal operators in food delivery. * Understanding the current food distribution network set-up * Opportunities in semi-perishable food delivery * Refrigerated and temperature-controlled transport * Food products already being distributed via the post * Temperature ranges and compatibility in transport * The direct-to-consumer opportunity * Specifications for shipping food items * Practicalities of food delivery. including doorstep delivery, temperature monitoring * Sailing schedules for food pickup and delivery, and implications for pricing * Optimising space in refrigerated vehicles * Setting up a pilot programme for food delivery * First steps for a post setting up food delivery concept
Mindaugas Cerpickis, Director at Copenhagen Economics, analyses proposed changes to the universal service obligation in Norway. * Background to USO reform proposals * Posten's current USO, including delivery standards * Alternate day letter delivery * Out-of-home delivery for letters * Electronic notification for letter delivery * Option for weekly residential letter delivery * Anticipated savings in last mile letter delivery * Exceptions to proposed letter delivery changes * Ensuring access to the letter service for vulnerable users * Managing over-the-counter letter delivery * Options for delivering letters with parcels * Electronic notifications options * Consultation process and timeframe * European Postal Directive
Greenplan CEO Dr Clemens Beckmann takes us beyond the streetmap to the cutting edge of route planning.
- The problems that route planning solves
- Driver satisfaction with route planning
- How the time of day influences route planning
- Going beyond the street map: incorporating driver expertise
- Swapping parcels at the edge of delivery routes
- Overlapping delivery routes and load balancing
- Mixing letters and parcels
- Understanding minimum density of delivery points
- Calculating costs per parcel
- Greenplan's "Happy Nucleolus” methodology
- Calculating the optimum letter/parcel mix
- Emissions reporting
- Avoiding emissions through route planning
- Ensuring quality of data
- Advantages of Greenplan's route planning system
Andrius Ladauskas, CEO of Venipak, discusses e-commerce and parcel delivery trends in the Baltics.
- Venipak company profile and competitive environment in the Baltics
- Pan-Baltic parcel locker network
- Comparing shopping patterns in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia
- Challenges and opportunities with Chinese and European e-commerce businesses
- Importance of price in e-commerce volumes
- Parcel trends during peak season
- Delivery preferences across the Baltics
- Impact of pandemic on delivery preferences
- E-commerce payment preferences
Michael Anderson, global delivery and e-commerce expert, discusses Royal Mail's challenges and opportunities in the context of the UK delivery scene. * Exploiting delivery density and minimising dead time * Decline in letter volumes and increase in delivery points * Letter pricing * Opportunities in boxable packets * Delivery networks and collection network * Digital proof of delivery * Unwillingness of UK government to tackle the USO issue * Change of ownership and possibility of USO reform * Royal Mail's proposal to change the USO * Overview of UK parcel delivery market * Value segment, premium segment, and express segment * Out-of-home delivery network, including parcel lockers * Royal Mail's home delivery advantage * Relationship with CWU (union) and making the most of the workforce premium * Product mix and profitability * Capability to harvest renewable energy * Should the Royal Mail and Parcelforce brands be kept separate?
Jakub Rymkiewicz, Market Research Manager at the IPC (International Post Corporation) discusses some of the key findings from the Cross-border E-commerce Shopper Survey 2024: * How IPC collects the survey data, and the focus on delivery * Growth in cross-border e-commerce from China * Temu and other retailers - such as Shein and Amazon - fuelling growth in cross-border e-commerce * Faster delivery speed * Low value parcels * Consumer expectations on delivery speed as they relate to product category or consumer segment * Is fast delivery important? * Customs payments * Delivery preferences (locations) * Free delivery * E-commerce returns, including returns policies
Milos Zlatkovic, Founder and CEO of Mily Technologies, and Hugh Craigie Halkett, CEO and Founder of StampFree, discuss major delivery trends for 2025.
Milos Zlatkovic covers:
- Out of home delivery and cross-border ecommerce
- InPost delivering cross-border
- E-commerce growth in 2025, including very cheap cross-border purchases
- Amazon Haul, Temu and Shein
- Parcel lockers and last mile capacity
- Developing dense out-of-home delivery networks
- Cost of living and cheap delivery
- Best practice in customer delivery notifications
Hugh Cragie Halkett covers:
- Customer convenience in delivery
- Artificial intelligence and delivery services
- Parcel locker adoption in different markets
- Royal Mail deploying parcel lockers in UK
- Pricing mechanisms to encourage parcel locker usage
- Standing out - and not becoming the "carrier of last resort"
- Using technology to gain a competitive advantage
Victor Falkenklev, CEO of Falkenklev Logistik, shares his experiences electrifying Falkenklev Logistik's delivery fleet. * The history of Falkenklev Logistik, including its partnership with DHL * Setting up a solar energy park and using the energy to power the delivery fleet * Building a charging station for heavy electric trucks * DHL supporting procurement of electric vehicles * Roadmap for fully electrifying Falkenklev's delivery fleet * Driver feedback on electric vehicles * Real-world learnings from delivering in cold climate * Vision to power electric trucks from self-made electricity * DHL's ambitions to reduce delivery emissions * Low emission zones * Government policy on fuel prices * Important first steps for electrifying delivery fleets * Corporate sustainability reporting * Benefits of early adoption of electric vehicles in delivery
Elia Cipelletti, Logistics Operations Manager at cargo bike delivery firm So.De explains the company’s origins and mission.
- The inspiration behind the creation of So.De
- Rider welfare and environmental concerns
- Why So.De uses a cargo bike fleet
- Plans for consolidation in Milan and future domestic expansion
- Milk route runs and point-to-point delivery
- Courier engagement model
- So.De’s involvement with the Code Zero project and with IKEA
Mark Fallon, President and CEO of The Berkshire Company, discusses what the next Trump Presidency might mean for the US Postal Service. * The governing structure of the USPS and the role of the President and US Congress * USPS Office of Inspector General * Postal Regulatory Commission, and the Chair of the PRC * Funding of the PRC * USPS Board of Governors and its new Chair * US Congress and the Committees that oversee the USPS * USO for letters and post offices * Postal reform legislation * Tariffs on goods imported into the USA
Guillaume Guersing, Head of Consumer Services, Geopost, explains Geopost's new e-commerce discovery platform, Singular. * Showcasing SMEs on the Singular website * Selecting local merchants in lifestyle categories * Expanding Geopost's services to SMEs * Why Singular is a discovery platform, not a marketplace * Growth in e-commerce after Singular's launch * How Singular differs in Italy, Spain and Croatia
Kate Muth, Executive Director at the International Mailers Advisory Group (IMAG), discusses changes that will impact cross-border parcels around the world. * Changes to de minimis rules for international shipments to the USA * Collecting better data on cross-border parcels * Excluding certain goods from US de minimis rules * Potential penalties and fees on de minimis shipments * How any changes might be made and then implemented * Chinese retailers taking up nearshoring * Other nations announcing changes affecting imports and e-commerce
Alistair Cochrane, Chief Operating Officer at Royal Mail, and Ricky McAulay, UK Operations Director at Royal Mail, discuss first and last mile strategy, including: * Changes at Royal Mail after the 2022 industrial dispute * Removing domestic air freight and moving to road or rail * Restructuring costs in the business, including labour rates * Restoring relationships and confidence with stakeholders and customers * Reform to Universal Service Obligation * Strategic importance of Royal Mail's new Super Hub * Reasons for locating the Super Hub in the Midlands * Automation, efficiency, and competitiveness * Diversifying Royal Mail's last mile delivery offering * Relationship with Post Office Ltd for delivery * Partnering with third-party PUDO networks * Parcel lockers * Challenges of delivering letters and parcels to remote areas * Importance of getting pricing right
Milos Zlatkovic, Founder and CEO at Mily Technologies, discusses optimising out-of-home delivery networks.
- Convenience leads to consumer adoption of lockers
- Proximity and parcel hold time in lockers
- Consumer preference to collect parcels close to home
- Coverage and density of out-of-home delivery in residential areas
- Managing risks in setting up an out-of-home delivery network
- Co-ordinating multiple internal stakeholders to increase likelihood of success
- Managing capacity in parcel lockers and PUDO points
- Sharing capacity with other carriers at PUDO points
- Finding the "sweet spot" of parcel volumes at PUDOs
- Improving coverage and capacity
- Integrating parcel lockers and PUDOs
- The role of returns in out-of-home networks
- Driving delivery efficiencies with out-of-home
- Assistance at various stages of setting up and optimising out-of-home networks
- Enabling internal collaboration via technology
Geopost has published its first 2B Recipient Barometer, which shows the growing importance of delivery to business success. Carmen Cureu, Group Market Research Director at Geopost, shares some insights from the research: * Comparing B2B and B2C e-shoppers * Surveying large corporates and SMEs * Why delivery is crucial to business success * Businesses' delivery expectations * Importance of meeting commitments in delivery * Solving delivery issues quickly * Helping businesses track their deliveries * Flexible delivery * Improved customer service processes * Delivery prediction and delivery slots * Driver experience and expertise * How businesses use delivery data
André Pharand, strategic advisor to Open Pricer, and Nicolas Nemorin, Head of Customer Success Management at Open Pricer, explain how to increase the profitability of parcels by using better costing to improve pricing.
- Postal and parcel operators not having good visibility of their costs
- Winning the parcel pricing wars
- The connection between costing and pricing
- The need to validate profitability in parcels
- Why costs and profitability is everybody’s business
- Getting better granularity on costs
- Case studies of a post and express carrier showing what can be achieved with improved cost models
- De-averaging perception of costs
- Identifying unprofitable lanes and zones
- Making better decisions with existing customer base - including finding customers with hidden costs
- Reshaping base prices and discount policies
- What is holding carriers back from improving their cost models?
- Competing strategic priorities in the parcel and parcel industry
- How difficult is it to improve a cost model?
- Automating cost models
- Leveraging capacity utilisation data
Abdulla Mohammed Alashram, Group CEO of 7X, discusses the transformation of the Emirates Post Group into a new enterprise.
- The strategy that drove the transformation and rebrand of Emirates Post Group to 7X
- The significance of the number seven and the letter X
- 7X's subsidiaries Emirates Post, EMX courier and parcels, Fintx, and EDC electronic document centre
- Technology underpinning the new group-wide strategy
- Digitising Emirates Post services
- Making EMX the carrier of choice in the UAE
- Fintx financial services, including realtime remittances
- EDC enabling customers to travel a digitisation journey
- Technology driving changes in customers' delivery needs
- Plans to grow delivery options, including out-of-home delivery
- Understanding consumers' delivery preferences
- Why EMX has been launched as a separate delivery entity, including cross-border growth
- Integrating delivery services into a central app
- Growth strategies, including mergers and acquisitions
- Visions for the future
- 2025 UPU Congress
Alan Barrie, delivery sector expert and Chair of Stamp Free, discusses research into delivery sector trends.
- Research commissioned by Stamp Free into postal and parcel trends
- Competition for market share
- Dynamism of the UK delivery market, with traditional and alternative carriers
- The growth and scale fuelling competition in the last mile
- Structural issues creating issues for established delivery companies
- Getting close to consumers
- Transformation of the delivery sector
- Three key aspects of out-of-home delivery: customer convenience, sustainability and business efficiency
- The potential impact of digitalisation on the delivery sector
- How data helped cross-border delivery
- Getting data right for C2C delivery
- The label - physical representation of data
- The Stamp Free concept
- How Stamp Free works in practice
- Data capture at source
- Stamp Free and parcel lockers
- Going beyond replacing stamps and creating a pre-validated physical delivery item
- Simplifying parcel assessment and drop-off for consumers and delivery drivers
Kathleen Cauwelier, PhD Researcher at Mobilise VUB, discusses her recent research on the green delivery attitude-behaviour gap, including consumers’ willingness to select "green" delivery options.
- How consumers say they want to behave and how they actually act
- Defining the attitude-behaviour gap
- Survey understanding consumers’ delivery preferences and habits
- Identifying groups of consumers with common attitudes towards green delivery, including the careless consumer, and ignorant consumers
- Education of consumers so they can understand environmental impact of their delivery choices
- Consumers’ willingness to pay for greener delivery options
- What should the delivery sector do next to help consumers make greener delivery decisions?
- Difference in actual consumer behaviour relating to green delivery across different clusters of consumers
Restaurant delivery expert Peter Backman - the brains behind thedelivery.world and The Delivery Prophets - discusses the differences and similarities between food delivery and parcel delivery.
- The difference between restaurant delivery and grocery delivery
- Why restaurant delivery is not a new thing
- Technology and delivery aggregators changing restaurant delivery
- Importance of timeliness to restaurant delivery
- Delivery problems in meal delivery
- How delivery aggregators are using tech to upend restaurant delivery
- Ability to plan last mile deliveries
- Batching of orders
- Timeliness of meal delivery
- La Poste delivering meals, and planned meal delivery
- Consumers tracking orders and deliveries
- Delivery pricing and menu pricing
- Restaurant delivery companies struggling to make a profit
- Fees, food prices, up-selling, and other ways to fund delivery
- Delivery costs and impact on restaurant profitability
Belgian postal operator bpost has launched its carbon calculator, which estimates the carbon emissions associated with domestic parcels. Karin Enzlin, Head of Sustainability at bpost, discusses how the carbon calculator works and what it could mean for e-commerce delivery.
- Background on bpost’s environmental and sustainability strategy and ambitions
- Electrifying the last mile and using out-of-home delivery
- Emission-free delivery in Ecozones
- Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
- Lowering emissions
- Reporting bpost’s emissions to e-commerce retailers
- How bpost’s carbon calculator tool works
- Validating the carbon calculator and complying with standards
- Applicable for bpost parcels in Belgium
- Predicting parcel emissions and future improvements to the carbon calculator
- Helping consumers understand the environmental impact of different delivery options
- How the carbon calculator tool will help bpost reduce its own emissions
- Standardisation and regulation of last mile delivery emissions reporting, including conversations with Belgian regulator BIPT
Axel Dekker, CEO and co-founder of Packaly, discusses delivery optimisation, reducing emissions, and reporting emissions.
- Overview of the Packaly network
- Freelance riders and local partners
- Consolidating orders
- Ship-from-store and ship-from-hub
- Choosing the right vehicle for delivery routes
- Managing volumes (size) and routing for delivery vehicles
- Working with retailers and delivery partners to improve data
- Delivering to low-emission zones
- Sharing delivery hub infrastructure
- Giving retailers greater visibility of last mile emissions
- Calculating emissions at a granular level
- Need to standardise of emissions reporting
Kati Nevalainen, Director, Parcel Services at Matkahuolto, discusses parcel delivery across Finland and the Nordics:
- History of Matkahuolto carrying parcels
- Matkahuolto's public transport roots
- B2B, B2C and C2C deliveries
- Interacting with C2C via mobile apps as well as in-store
- Residential delivery and out-of-home delivery
- Matkahuolto's service point network
- Finnish consumers' delivery preferences
- Size of Matkahuolto's parcel locker network and service point network
- Density of out-of-home network
- Location of Matkahuolto parcel lockers
- Cross-border delivery and delivery partners, including Omniva, GLS and Bring
- Matkahuolto's sustainability commitments
- Customer experience and parcel lockers
- Using agnostic parcel locker networks and own parcel locker network
- Smartmile acquisition
- Publishing parcel locker data
- Redirecting parcels to nearby PUDO points
Peter Dunn, Director of European Relations, Cullen International, discusses the USO, how European postal operators are reacting to falling letter volumes, and more.
- The purpose of the Postal Services Directive, including letters USO and quality of service
- How local universal service obligations can be changed
- Flexibility provisions in Postal Services Directive
- Changes to letter delivery frequency in Italy (Poste Italiane)
- Letter volume declines in Nordic countries
- Introducing alternate-day letter delivery
- Lack of standardised EU approach to USO scope definition
- Parcels in the USO
- Local variations in letter volume declines
- Review of the Postal Services Directive
- State aid and government support for postal operators
- Letter trends and USO review worldwide
- Varying national responses to falling letter volumes
- Cultural and operational differences between postal operators and markets
Professor John Colley from the Warwick Business School discusses developments in gig economy delivery and ultrafast grocery delivery (q-commerce). We cover:
- Demise of rapid, ultrafast delivery
- Difficult economics of ultrafast delivery
- High costs of q-commerce never passed on to consumers
- Supermarket chains acquiring failed rapid delivery startups
- Availability of venture capital funding
- Gig economy delivery model
- Regulation of the gig economy
- Workers' rights and driver strike action
- Lack of profitability and growth in gig economy delivery
- Difference between markets
- Affluence vs low minimum wages as an indicator of gig economy delivery
- History repeating itself with ride hailing
- Batching of fast food orders
Rob King, CEO and co-founder at Zedify, discusses customer experience in the last mile, sustainability, greenwashing, and cargo bike delivery.
- Creating better delivery for customers and the environment
- Large vehicles vs small vehicles in urban delivery
- Microhubs in cities
- The last mile as an extension of the online retailer's brand
- Retailers paying more attention to delivery emissions
- Key factors in getting the customer experience right in delivery
- Estimated delivery times and electronic delivery notifications
- The human interaction at the doorstep
- Retailers' concerns about greenwashing in delivery
- Reporting emissions
- Cargo bike delivery trends
- Difficulties in decarbonising delivery
Phil Read, Managing Director at Varamis, talks about using electric trains to transport parcels overnight in the UK:
- The inspiration behind Varamis
- Advantage of using high-speed passenger trains for moving parcels
- Acquiring electric trains
- Overnight parcel train service between Birmingham and Glasgow
- Proving trains can meet demands of parcel delivery sector
- Train paths - slots in the railway timetable
- Offering a regular train service for parcels
- Using former Royal Mail Red Star Parcel facilities
- Streamlining loading and unloading processes
- Integrating with the last mile
- Being price competitive compared to road transport
- Environmental benefits of rail over road
- Launching the Londin-Glasgow service
- Working with retail customers to create a service fit for purpose
- Future expansion plans across the UK
Myrthe Rosema, founder of social-inclusive delivery start-up Scootbezorgd, discusses the practical and social impact of last mile delivery via mobility scooter.
- The inspiration for Scootbezorgd
- Changing perceptions of mobility scooters
- Current operational area
- Using customised mobility scooters to ensure range
- Empowering people of differing physical and mental abilities to deliver
- B2B and B2C deliveries
- Fast (same-day and rush) delivery
- Paying couriers
- Waiting list to join Scootbezorgd
- Delivery technology and route planning
- Delivery scooters can traverse different topographies
- Riding on footpaths, in malls, and in restricted access / low emission city centres
- Future plans for Scootbezorgd, including returns and partnerships
- Proving the delivery and business model in Arnhem
Carmen Cureu, Market Research Director at Geopost, discusses some of the details in the 2023 edition of Geopost's e-shopper barometer. * The factors driving modern e-commerce * Why convenience is important * E-commerce allowing customers to find bargains * Decisions shoppers make when purchasing online * Products need to be aligned with consumers' expectations * Barriers to e-shoppers returning to an e-commerce website * Consumers want to avoid returns * Cost and environmental considerations of e-commerce returns * Inconvenience to consumers of dealing with returns * Statistics on e-commerce returns * C2C e-commerce embraced by online shoppers * Social selling, and how it showcases products * Home delivery popularity trends * Tracking, rescheduling, and predictability for home delivery * Next day delivery, alternative delivery locations, and out-of-home delivery * E-commerce product categories across Europe
How can delivery companies build efficient out-of-home delivery networks? Cédric Hervet, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Kardinal, discusses the challenges industry players face in finding the best locations for PUDOs and lockers in terms of profitability and customer coverage:
- Why delivery companies are considering out-of-home delivery
- Differences between B2B and B2C parcel delivery
- First-time delivery
- Delivery density
- Cost per delivery
- Key factors in making out-of-home delivery a success
- Customer expectations
- Having trusted PUDO partners
- Offering customers multiple delivery options, including residential and out-of-home
- C2C deliveries
- Quality of service, cell availability at parcel lockers, PUDO staff training
- Challenges in building effective out-of-home delivery networks
- Connecting to existing OOH networks
- Network and territory coverage
- Defining what coverage means for each delivery area
- Optimising the process for building OOH networks
- Anticipating parcel hold times
Luke Lloyd, Head of Markets at the IPC, discusses some of the key findings from the IPC's Global Postal Industry Report.
- GPIR based on various postal operators' reports
- Overview of post-pandemic parcel volume and revenue trends
- Letter volume trends
- Impact of pandemic on letter volumes
- Diversification of revenue, including letters, parcels, and financial services
- Variations in diversification across various postal operators
- Regional differences in letter and parcel volume trends
Titus Bütler, Head of Transport at Swiss Post, explains why and how Swiss Post is moving more mail and parcels by rail.
- How demands for speed and flexbility drove growth of road freight in the past
- Energy efficiency of rail vs trucks
- Rail terminals at Swiss Post logistics centres
- Ecological and economic benefits of prioritising rail
- Hybrid locomotives going into logistics centres
- Length vs speed of freight trains
- Rail being used for letters and parcels
- Special mail wagons
- Moving mail and parcels from logistics centres to rail terminals
- Dedicated postal trains
- Congestion on Swiss railway network
- Operating mail trains during the day and night
- Meeting delivery punctuality targets
- Using narrow gauge railways
- Swiss Post's sustainability strategy, including delivering using electric vehicles in the last mile
Vienna has set up a carrier-neutral parcel locker network called Wienbox. Some of Wienbox's key proponents discuss the parcel locker network's development and future. Monika Unterholzner, Deputy Director General of the Wiener Stadtwerke Group, whose responsibilities include logistics, Prof. Dr. Andreas Breinbauer, Head of the Logistics Department at the University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna, who led academic support for Wienbox project, and David Strauß, Researcher Logistics and Transport Management, University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna cover:
- City issues such as emissions, public transport, and city logistics
- Creating a framework for city logistics
- Creating a parcel locker policy for City of Vienna
- Testing parcel lockers as a city logistics instrument
- Use of public space
- Developing a masterplan for city logistics in Vienna
- Involving various stakeholders in creating policy
- Using parcel lockers as micro hubs for logistics
- Developing use cases for parcel lockers, including public transport lost and found
- City utilities and municipal departments involved in Wienbox
- Backing up the project with science and academic research
- Parcel locker partners
- Looking for best practice in white label parcel lockers worldwide
- Critical factors for parcel locker network success - cost, location, environment, and customer satisfaction
- Customer perspectives of parcel lockers
- Results of customer survey
- Factors that increase likelihood of customers using parcel lockers
- Realising potential environmental benefits of parcel lockers
- Who can use Wienbox parcel lockers (including delivery companies)
- Criteria for parcel locker locations
- Lockers excluded from public space in Vienna
- Relationship between parcel locker network density and speed of parcel collection
- Future developments planned for Wienbox parcel lockers
- Size and spread of the Wienbox parcel locker network
- Mobile app for parcel locker access
Mustafa Tonguç, Managing Director at DHL Express Germany, discusses supply chain resilience and the growth in global B2B e-commerce:
- Why supply chain resilience is crucial
- Manufacturing being stimulated around the world
- DHL helping customers create new supply chains
- Enabling late customer checkout times for next-day delivery
- Omni-shoring, near-shoring and friend-shoring
- Sustainability and ethically sourced materials
- Digitalisation, automation and labour market issues
- Growth in B2B e-commerce
- Examples of B2B retailers selling online
- Expectations of B2B e-commerce shoppers
- Tips for improving cross-border B2B sales
- Two-person delivery
- On-demand delivery
Kate Muth, Executive Director at IMAG (International Mailers Advisory Group) discusses developments in international mail.
- Being awarded the Megan J Brennan Award by Women in Logistics & Delivery Services (WILDS)
- US de minimis threshold - currently $800
- Modernisation of US Customs
- STOP Act 2.0 update
- AED / EAD exemptions
- Opioid crisis, counterfeiting and forced labour
- Inbound parcel volumes under the de minimis threshold
- US outbound international mail
- ICS2
- Brazil e-commerce compliance
- Indonesian regulations on e-commerce and social media
- Making cross-border shopping seamless
- Improving AED/EAD compliance
Luke Lloyd, Head of Markets, IPC (International Post Corporation) discusses the 2022 results of the IPC Sustainability Measurement and Management System.
- Background to development of the IPC's SMMS
- Carbon emissions, health & safety, circular economy
- 31 postal operators report under SMMS, including 100,000 buildings, 600,000 vehicles, and 1.3m employees
- Progress towards 2030 targets, including renewable energy, alternative fuel vehicles, and recycling, and CO2 emissions
- Scrutiny of reporting
- Sharing of best practice
- Electrifying the middle mile
- Sustainable aviation fuel
- Using rail to reduce carbon footprint
- Reusable packaging
- The change from letters-focus to parcels-focus
- Exploring carbon footprint of cross-border items
- Consumer, retailer and regulator demand for greater visibility of delivery emissions
In this special end-of year episode, Jonathan Bouaziz (Kardinal), Kevin Seller (Escher), Will Simpson (Kantar) and David Spottiswood (Hurrican) cover different aspects of the postal and delivery world. Jonathan Bouaziz, CEO at Kardinal, discusses: * Optimising PUDO networks * Understanding the implications of making changes to a PUDO network * Merging letter and parcel delivery * Creating delivery efficiency in combining letter and parcel last mile delivery * Frequency of delivery, including in rural areas
Kevin Seller, Chief Sales Officer at Escher, covers: * Analysis of major issues facing post office networks * Variabilizing costs in fixed networks * Using self-service in post office networks * Tailoring range of services in different post offices * Returns at post offices * Post offices at e-commerce distribution hubs * Simplifying IT in post office networks
Will Simpson, Client Direct at Kantar's Postal & Logistics unit, discusses: * Changes in postal regulatory environment * Service quality, price, and competition * Regulation and parcel delivery * Sustainability in delivery and logistics * Measuring effectiveness of mail
David Spottiswood, co-founder at Hurricane, covers: * ICS2 implementation update * Providing the right data to ensure uplift with airlines * New legislation and de minimis changes * Enforcement of existing cross-border legislation * Customs and border protection * Cross-border returns * C2C cross-border shipments, including post office lodgements
Mike Plunkett, President at PostCom, and Mark Fallon, President of the Berkshire Company, discuss the state of affairs at the US Postal Service.
- Vacancies on USPS Board of Governors and impact on day-to-day USPS operations
- Employee headcount
- Letter pricing and price increases
- PRC's role in postal pricing
- Letter volume decline
- Ambiguity in the USA's Universal Service Obligation
- Driving efficiencies in letter delivery
- USPS losses and legislative reform
- Optimized Collection, Delivery Unit consolidation and changes to mail collection times
- Leveraging the USPS post office network
- Handling non-postal business at the post office
- Upgrading and improving the USPS logistics network in 2024
- Are postal employees prioritising Amazon parcels?
- USPS parcel lockers
- Optimising post office locations
Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner (USA) for Crossroads Parcel Consulting, analyses the major trends in the US last mile over the past 12 months.
- Observations on 2023 peak season parcel volumes
- Technology allowing shipper diversifications and managing multiple carriers
- Surcharges pushing shippers to find alternatives to UPS or FedEx
- UPS and FedEx being aggressive in discounting
- Retailers taking delivery in-house
- Local delivery services allowing retailers to offer fast delivery
- Using local stores as delivery centres
- Retailers setting up sortation centres
- Walmart GoLocal delivery service delivering for other companies
- Delivery allowing Walmart and Target to compete with Amazon
- Amazon shipping more parcels than UPS and FedEx
- Amazon's B2B e-commerce business
- Amazon up-selling to businesses
- Economic conditions impacting e-commerce and delivery
Denmark has been at the vanguard when it comes to changes to letter delivery and digitisation of letter services. But new changes to the universal service obligation will have far-reaching implications for letter and parcel delivery in Denmark. Mindaugas Cerpickis and Jacob Østermann from Copenhagen Economics analyse the changes and implications for the postal world. * Background to the USO being "abolished" * Post Denmark's freedom to vary letter pricing and delivery schedules to save costs * Digitisation of government communications * USO as we know it being abolished * Drastic letter volume declines * Parcel volumes reaching parity with letter volumes * Internet penetration in Denmark * e-Boks digital mailbox * Centralising government services * Replacing USO with tender process for targeted services * Market delivering services * Post Danmark's ability to provide USO without government support * EU Postal Services Directive and UPU requirements * Three aspects of USO being put out to tender: island communities, services for the blind, and international mail * Expectations that the market will cover the rest of the USO * Letterboxes and parcel lockers in island communities * Universal access to delivery infrastructure * Monitoring the market to see if there are any shortcomings in providing letter services * Could the Danish model be used in other postal markets? * Future of postal regulation * Understanding social expectations of postal services
Roel Gevaers, Professor in Last Mile Logistics and Supply Chain, University of Antwerp, discusses new Belgian legislation targeting last mile parcel delivery.
- Definition of parcel delivery companies under the new law
- Obligations on delivery companies
- Minimum payment rates
- Intention behind this legislation
- Past scandals in Belgian parcel delivery
- Pay rates and social security payments
- Lack of oversight in delivery sector
- Complexity in the new legislation
- Returns seem to be exempt from the regulations
- Application to international companies delivering in Belgium
- Increasing compliance costs for delivery operators
- Huge administrative burden on small companies
- Last mile costs
- Out-of-home delivery
- The political cycle
- What will happen if other countries follow Belgium's lead?
Jack Hopkins, CEO and co-founder of Tradeaze - a same-day delivery service for the building and trades sector - shares how Tradeaze started and the delivery need it fills:
- What drove Jack to found Tradeaze
- The need for tradespeople (tradies) to have access to fast supply of parts
- How the parts market works
- How merchants service spare parts needs
- The Tradeaze platform for shipping spare parts
- Offering a same-day service alongside merchants' existing "milk-run" delivery services
- Using Tradeaze as a back-up delivery service
- The range of delivery options Tradeze offers, from vans down to e-bikes
- One hour, three hour, any time today
- How the B2B delivery service saves tradies time and money
- Timeliness of delivery as a critical factor in the building sector
- Engagement model with drivers (employee and self-employed)
- Delivering large and heavy items
- The tech that underpins the Tradeaze delivery service
- Tracking consignments
- Matching vehicles to orders
- Consolidating deliveries and getting vehicle loading right
- Managing damaged, partially fulfilled, or missing consignments
- Role of CCTV in accountability
- Tradeaze looking to expand beyond London
- Dealing with returns
- Potential for value added services
Thibault Guez, Out-of-Home Project Director Europe at Geopost, discusses out-of-home delivery, including PUDOs, parcel lockers, delivery preferences and more:
- What is out-of-home delivery?
- Size of Geopost's out-of-home network
- Getting closer to the consignee
- Dominance of residential B2C delivery in some European markets
- Understanding local cultural habits
- Refrigerated parcel lockers
- Striving for innovative out-of-home delivery solutions
- Location of temperature-controlled lockers
- Format of PUDO points / Parcel Shops
- Changing rooms in Geopost Parcel Shops
- Label-free returns
- Digital labels
- Increasing interconnection between Geopost delivery services
- In-flight redirections
- Maximising usage of parcel lockers
- Anticipating parcel drop-offs at lockers and PUDOs
- Role of consignee-facing app
- Improving the customer experience via the app
- Encouraging recipients to collect parcels quickly
Robert Jordan, CEO at the Information Factory, discusses how data can be used to drive profitability in delivery and logistics. We cover:
- Harnessing logistics and delivery data
- Data is not just about reporting
- Falling letter volumes, volatile parcel volumes, labour pressures
- Postal operators dealing with operational issues in the network and the last mile
- Revenue optimisation
- Using data for performance and sales reporting
- Being price competitive in delivery and logistics
- The importance of having a data strategy
- Receiving and transmitting data
- What to look for when it comes to data quality in logistics
- Making sure data is fit for purpose
- Creating a cost model (activity based costing)
- Tying in with the general ledger
- Allocation of costs
- Ops cost per move
- Assessing profitability of customers and lanes
- Data underpinning optimisation of logistics operations
- Ensuring data is fit for purpose
- Observability
Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner (USA) for Crossroads Parcel Consulting, discusses the ramifications of the UPS - Teamsters deal, FedEx’s cost-cutting, USPS reform, and Amazon delivery contractors.
- Impact of UPS’s deal with Teamsters
- How UPS was travelling prior to striking a deal with the union
- FedEx’s efforts to reduce its operating costs
- Amalgamation of FedEx’s Ground and Express networks
- FedEx’s improved competitiveness with UPS
- UPS parcel volume loss
- Losing low-margin residential e-commerce business
- Potential for lay-offs at UPS
- UPS’s focus on high-revenue express business
- FedEx’s low-cost contractor model
- Potential for UPS-Teamsters deal to raise wages across the sector
- Earning potential of Amazon drivers
- The war for talent in the last mile
- Amazon remuneration of Delivery Service Partners
- Employee/contractor classification issue
- FedEx’s experiences with mis-classification
- Dynamic pricing and surcharges in the USA
- The costs behind peak season
- Granularity of dynamic pricing
- Lack of transparency in parcel pricing
- US Postal Service reorganisation under PMG Louis DeJoy
- Volume decline at USPS
- Changes to USPS ground services
- USPS investing more in sales and communications
- Amazon’s encroachment into non-metro delivery
- Rural delivery surcharges
- Peak season preparations
- The extension of peak season
Margaret Persico, Senior Director of Postal and Logistics Unit at Kantar, and Will Simpson, Client Director at Kantar's Postal and Logistics Unit, discuss what external measurement means for postal, parcel, regulators, and e-commerce players: * Transformation of postal operators * Changes in capturing and reporting transit measurements * Accurate real-time results powering improved reporting * Transition from letters to parcels and impact on USO and regulation * Complex delivery requirements need better data and measurement * Consumer expectations on speed and reliability of letters and parcels * The risks of poor customer experience in the last mile * Competing on quality of delivery, and how data powers that * Benchmarking against other delivery competitors * Using measurement to evaluate the impact of operational changes * Driving efficiency through external measurement * What is important to measure? Why isn't looking at scanning data enough? * Kantar's sample-based approach, including panels and tracking items * Real-time data capture and speed of reporting * Identifying under-performing parts of the delivery network * Simple and clear metrics on items travelling through delivery network * Identifying cause of delays and bottlenecks * Future of measurement, including regulation, customer expectations, and use cases for measurement * Monitoring call centre customer support * Using data to have a comprehensive view of delivery performance
Ann Snitko, UC Berkeley Researcher and Chief Product Development Officer at Omnic on parcel lockers, delivery efficiency, and emissions.
- Reducing emissions in transport under the European Green Deal
- Optimising routes with parcel lockers
- Modes of transport consumers use for collecting parcels
- Parcel locker density and encouraging consumers to walk
- Load capacity issues
- Reducing the vehicles loading lockers
- Improving customer experience
- The importance of collaboration in building sustainability parcel locker networks
- Inefficient locker networks being inefficient from an emissions perspective
- Omnic's supply chain and its carbon-free production facility
- Consumer behaviour and the last mile's carbon footprint
- Same-day delivery and unnecessary emissions
- Predictable levels of service
- Aggregating services into one parcel locker system
- Omnic at Parcel+Post Expo 2023 in Amsterdam
Kardinal's Head of Business, Michael Anderson, discusses key findings from Kardinal's recent research into last mile strategy and last mile operations:
- Understanding postal and delivery companies' priorities in the last mile
- The importance of service quality in parcel delivery
- Environment and sustainability as a high level strategic priority
- Profitability
- Getting fleet and depot design right and routes optimised
- Pricing and rate negotiation
- Price and quality of service
- Organising last mile operations
- Getting the employee and subcontractor mix right
- Managing resources in the face of fluctuating parcel volumes
- Residential and out-of-home delivery
- Forecasting environmental impact of delivery fleets
- Fleet conversion to low-carbon alternatives
- Electric vehicle range
- Volumetric challenges of different vehicles
- Key challenges for the next decade in the last mile, including sustainability, service levels, and resource management
- Reducing driver churn
- Solutions to overcome some of these issues
- Making data usable in planning and forecasting
Brody Buhler, CEO at Escher Group discusses key findings from Escher's 2023 Future of Posts research. We cover:
- Acceleration of letter volume declines
- Fluctuating parcel volumes
- Major challenges currently facing postal operators
- Postal operators struggling to achieve profitability
- Changing letter and parcel delivery
- Capacity constraints or lack of parcel volumes?
- Bringing inventory closer to the consumer
- Delivery speed and revenue
- Macroeconomic challenges: inflation, profitability erosion, and the reshaping of commerce
- Postal strategy
- Loss-making postal retail operations
- Bringing digital enablement to physical locations
- Increasing network utilisation
- Growing cross-border volumes
- Technologies to achieve strategic goals
- Purpose-built self-service solutions
- Parcel lockers
Should parcel locker networks be compelled to be “open”? Roel Gevaers, Professor in Last Mile Logistics and Supply Chain, University of Antwerp, discusses moves to force Belgian parcel lockers to accept parcels from other carriers.
- bpost and Budbee operate the two most significant Belgian parcel locker networks
- Where Budbee parcel lockers are generally located
- Overview of major last mile operators in Belgium, by geographic area
- Amazon’s entry into the Belgian last mile - and seeming absence from the parcel locker scene in Belgium
- Why Belgian politicians are considering compelling all parcel locker networks to deliver parcels on behalf of all delivery companies
- Discussion about environmental differences between residential delivery and out-of-home delivery (i.e. parcel lockers or PUDO points)
- Consumer behaviour in collecting parcels
- Previous attempt at open parcel locker network in Belgium
- Commercial considerations in delivering parcels for other operators
- Operational considerations in open parcel locker networks
- Consumer enthusiasm for parcel lockers
- Keeping service levels and customer satisfaction levels high
- Comparisons with liberalisation of telecommunications
- Utilisation of parcel lockers
- Next steps in implementing the proposal
- Update on definition of delivery contractors (See Episode 293.)
Heleen Buldeo Rai, assistant professor at VUB, discusses her research into how urban logistics facilities can be good neighbours.
- Warehouses and logistics centres getting closer to the city centre
- What makes NYC an interesting city for studying urban warehouses
- Population density, strength of e-commerce and zoning
- Cross-docking operations in NYC
- Delivery activities happening at the kerb/curb
- Community ignorance of the supply chain
- Friction between local residents and e-commerce logistics
- Best practices for urban warehouses to be good neighbours
- Regulatory frameworks
- Streets accommodating personal mobility as well as delivery vehicles
- The aesthetical aspect of urban warehouses
- Eco transfer concept - consolidating urban parcels and using environmentally-friendly vehicles
- Blocks and buffers
- Organising traffic
- Urban warehouses and cities' sustainability transitions
- Reducing stem distance
Daniel Rueda, CEO at Open Pricer, and Jonathan Bouaziz, CEO and co-founder at Kardinal, on the combined power of route optimisation and dynamic parcel pricing.
- What parcel volume decreases mean for parcel and postal operators
- Retaining delivery drivers
- Optimising parcel margins - even to a postcode level
- Parcel pricing variations by the day of the week
- Improved cost modelling means improved pricing
- Increasing capacity utilisation
- Renegotiating parcel pricing with existing e-commerce customers
- Dynamic parcel pricing at checkout
- Breaking out delivery route profitability
- More frequent updating of pricing models=
- Environmental benefits of the new Kardinal / Open Pricer partnership
- Modelling and simulations of environmental impact of delivery decisions
Mark Cross, Engagement Director at JICMAIL, and Dr Christopher Thresher-Andrews, Research Director at Kantar, discuss measuring mail's impact and unlocking mail's new capabilities:
- Creating the mail equivalent of TV audience measurement
- Demonstrating the value of mail, including business mail
- JICMail's background and ownership
- Helping marketers understand audience data for mail
- Making data accessible and easy-to-use
- Advertisers and agencies need data to include mail in campaigns
- Direct mail's perception challenges
- How some digital channels take credit for conversions
- How mail behaviours are measured
- Preserving direct mail revenues
- How mail engagement metrics compare to other channels
- Mail's life in the home
- Purchase behaviour initiated by mail across age groups
- Growing interaction with mail
- How can "attention" be measured?
- Using video analytics to measure mail engagement
- Why should posts care about direct mail?
- Unlocking new capabilities of mail
- Making mail use effective and habitual
Kate Muth, Executive Director at IMAG, discusses cross-border delivery and the US Postal Service, including:
* USPS plans for international mail
* USPS's focus on domestic matters and business
* What pushed USPS rates high?
* Why USPS lost business during COVID
* What's the plan to win business back
* Competing on price
* Alternatives to competing on price
* Highlights of USPS research on international mail
* Decline in international revenue
* Net importer or net exporter of mail?
* List being the carrier of last resort, even in international sales.
* Stopping illicit substances in the mail
* AED / EAD
* Changing the de minimis threshold
* Where illicit drugs are entering the US and the mailstream
* AED on letters and large letters (flats)
* US legislation impacting the postal sector creating global standards
* WILDS - Women in Logistics and Delivery Sector - update
Sustainable urban logistics expert Johan Peeters discusses reducing last mile emissions, including:
- The gap between what consumers say they want and what they're prepared to pay for when it comes to "green" delivery
- The seduction of free delivery
- Opportunities for delivery companies to improve cities
- Green zones in European cities
- Urban planners seeking to create human-based cities, to the exclusion of cars
- Posts and local distribution
- Low-emission delivery might be more than simply electric vans
- Diversifying last mile delivery methods
- Delivery companies as corporate citizens
- Sustainability as a commercial issue for delivery companies
- Impact of IPCC report
- Lawmakers and policymakers forcing change on the delivery sector
Julien Le Signor, Head of Environment at Geopost, discusses measuring and reporting last mile emissions. * Calculating and processing delivery emissions in real time in Geopost's Carbon Calculator tool * Taking data from scanning events for millions of parcels per day * Differing emissions for different vehicle types * Reporting emissions for residential and out-of-home deliveries * Why develop a carbon calculator tool? How will retailers use the data from the tool? * Carbon reporting obligations on retailers * SBTi targets * Transport sector's high reliance on fossil fuels * Seeing the immediate reduction of emissions as electric delivery vehicles are deployed * Accreditation * Accurately matching deliveries to actual emissions
Omnic CEO Dimash Syzdykov and Chief Product Officer Ann Snitko discuss a new era of parcel lockers.
- Why parcel lockers networks fail
- Making parcel lockers more than just luggage storage lockers
- The risks of weak customer experience
- Comparing parcel lockers to non-automated alternatives
- Omnic combining expertise in locker manufacturing, software development, and parcel locker management systems
- How to build functional, consumer-centric parcel locker networks
- Why the customer experience is so important for success in parcel locker networks
- How the role of parcel lockers can differ in various countries
Cpost International CEO, Thomas Roggendorf, details how a unique set of circumstances in Curaçao demanded an innovative response from the national postal operator.
- How the post became Cpost International
- Falling letter volumes
- Why the post couldn't fall back on local e-commerce
- What a semi-government company is
- The quest to be profitable
- Cross-border e-commerce
- Consolidated international shipments for Curaçao consumers
- Freight forwarding
- Investing in IT and expanding IT as a profit centre
- Expanding Cpost kiosks to the USA
- Digitisation of postal and post office services
- Payment gateway
- Government services in post offices
Cédric Hervet, Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder at Kardinal, discusses a technology-assisted approach to delivery resource management. * How postal and parcel delivery companies manage resources * Deciding who does what and where, and moving beyond planning via spreadsheets * Productivity lost thanks to suboptimal route organisation * Maximising driver productivity * Advantages of drivers being familiar with their delivery area * Dealing with increasingly volatile parcel volumes in a stable parcel delivery structure * Avoiding the problem of subcontractors going out of business * Keeping good contractors * Using data and new methodology to create resilient, optimised delivery networks * Putting facts and data at the centre of discussions between delivery companies and subcontractors * Getting the balance right with delivery subcontractors and employees, including managing shift lengths and delivery route distances * Getting to the key number of what the last mile delivery cost is * DPD France case study * Advanced territory analytics and optimisation * Productivity improvements of up to 25% * Making better decisions based on the algorithm
Markus Reckling, CEO Germany at DHL Express, discusses cross-border e-commerce, delivery preferences, and sustainability.
- Growth in B2B e-commerce
- Post-pandemic trends in B2C e-commerce and bricks-and-mortar retail
- Food delivery
- Global opportunities for B2B retailers in supply markets and in customers
- Why cross-border is important for B2B
- Offering quality of service worldwide
- Delivery preferences for different destination countries
- Giving customers delivery choice in cross-border deliveries
- Creating quality customer experiences in different markets
- Returns - including return rates for international purchases
- Deutsche Post DHL’s emission targets
- Making sorting centres more environmentally sensitive
- Leases on logistics centres
- Electrifying the ground fleet
- Key issues to be resolved to enable greater electrification of delivery fleets
- Reducing aviation emissions - including SAF
- DHL’s new GoGreen Plus offering
- People and culture
Pos Malaysia Group CEO Charles Brewer discusses the postal operator's transformation strategy and its sustainability push:
- Board's remit to transform and turnaround Pos Malaysia
- No glitter without the basics!
- The need to focus on core logistics functions, including parcel delivery performance
- Understanding customers' needs
- The three parts of Pos Malaysia's strategy: fix the basics, transforming the core, and creating incremental value
- Competition in the Malaysian delivery sector
- Monopoly on letters, improvement in quality of service
- Different approach to regulated and non-regulated business
- Value-add for mail
- Transition from letter-centric to parcels-centric business
- Inflation and spending power - impact on parcel volumes
- Retailers in-sourcing logistics
- Start-ups and new delivery entrants
- Leveraging retail / post office network
- Communicating with the parcel recipient
- Using WhatsApp in parcel delivery notifications and interactions
- USO - letters and post offices in rural areas
- Pos Malaysia's sustainability roadmap
- Introducing electric vehicles to the delivery fleet
- Solar power in the Pos Malaysia network
Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner (USA) for Crossroads Parcel Consulting, shares some insights into the negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters - the union representing UPS employees.
- UPS driver employment model - including a lower-paid class of driver
- Why are these negotiations attracting so much media attention?
- Change in Teamsters leadership and implications for negotiations with UPS
- The relationship between UPS management and UPS employees
- UPS communicating with drivers and ramifications for contract negotiations
- Key issues: Wage stagnation, health-related issues in UPS trucks, and second-tier drivers
- What happened during the 1997 UPS strike - including how customers tried to get parcels into the FedEx network
- What’s different: More regional carriers, more forward stocking fulfilment centres, the presence of Amazon with its own last mile capability
- Retailers potentially losing sales to Amazon if UPS can’t deliver
- Importance to carriers of controlling intake of packages
- US industrial relations and the role of the US President
- Could UPS drivers be compelled to return to work if they strike?
- The role of Roadie in all this
- UPS has an advantage over FedEx thanks to Roadie
- Other employees in the UPS network, e.g. aircraft operations support and handlers at hubs
- UPS leveraging its poor Q1 earnings as part of negotiations
Cathy Morrow Roberson, founder and lead analyst at Logistics Trends and Insights, discusses what trends in consumer spending power and in-store shopping mean for e-commerce parcel volumes.
- Trends in US consumers' spending power
- What consumers are buying
- Consumers looking for bargains, and retailers looking to offload inventory
- Discretionary spending vs essential purchases
- Rising food prices and fluctuating fuel prices
- Are consumers returning to in-store shopping? If so, is this at the expense of e-commerce?
- The pandemic effect on retailers moving to omnichannel
- What does all this mean for parcel volumes?
- FedEx, UPS and USPS have been experiencing parcel volume declines
- Carriers looking for more profitable parcels
- Rate increases offsetting volume declines
- Regional carriers picking up volumes, but still representing a small percentage of overall parcel volumes
- The future for delivery and e-commerce
- Inflation and interest rates
- Excess last mile capacity
- Automating sorting facilities
- Warehousing employment in the USA
David Spottiswood, co-founder of Hurricane, and Cyril McGrane, Director International Trade at An Post, discuss An Post's experiences in implementing HS codes for inbound and outbound international parcels.
- Why data is king in cross-border e-commerce delivery
- Governments no longer ignore cross-border e-commerce
- Ireland was an early adopter of cross-border data obligations
- How An Post approached changes to security and data, while trying to meet delivery service level obligations
- Working with the regulator, Customs, and global trading partners
- How C2C transactions differ to B2B or B2C international shipments
- Why posts have to help customers in lodging international parcels
- An Post's investment in facilities in Ireland
- Building infrastructure with An Post's retail post office counters
- Handling data before the parcel arrives in Ireland
- Airlines requiring data about shipments before accepting them
- Building systems to support outbound parcels and inbound international parcels
- Postal operators don't want parcels to come back!
- Impact on customer experience
- ICS2
- An Post's international cooperation with other postal operators
- Non-compliance is no longer an option
It's episode 300! First up, Dean Maciuba (Crossroads Parcel Consulting) briefly discusses FedEx's plans to merge its Ground and Express delivery networks.
Then the USPS Inspector General, Tammy Whitcomb Hull, joins me to discuss the role of the Inspector General.
- The role of Watergate in the origins of Inspector General roles
- Oversight of the US Postal Service and Postal Regulatory Commission
- Law enforcement agents
- Audits into efficiency of the USPS
- Research and Insights Solution Centre (RISC)
- Contrasting the USPS OIG with other Inspector Generals, such as the State Department
- Field review team in post offices and mail processing centres
- Why the US Postal Service needs an Inspector General
- Investigating crimes that put the Postal Service at risk
- Ensuring the integrity of the Postal Service
- Difference between the USPS OIG and the Postal Inspection Service
- How the USPS OIG uses data in its work
- The correlation between parcel weight and postie injuries
- What the Inspector General does
- Tammy Whitcomb Hull's career path
- Mentoring withing the USPS OIG
- The Megan J Brennan Award for Excellence
- Women in the postal and logistics sectors
Paul Buijs, Assistant Professor in the Department of Operations at the University of Groning, and co-author of “A greener last mile: Reviewing the carbon emission impact of pickup points in last-mile delivery,” joins me to discuss just how green out-of-home delivery might be:
- Defining pickup points (out-of-home alternatives to residential delivery)
- Out-of-home (OOH) delivery improving delivery route efficiency
- Reducing distance travelled by delivery vehicles
- Finding parking spots and time spent parking
- Time savings
- Transport used by customers collecting from OOH delivery points
- Measuring customers' tailpipe emissions when collecting OOH deliveries
- Impact of distance on consumers' decision-making process in choosing transport means
- Combining trips to collect parcels - trip chaining
- Using pickup points (OOH delivery) to reduce emissions
- Electric vehicles and collecting from PUDOs / parcel lockers
- Does OOH lose any emissions advantage as EVs become prevalent?
- Limitations on efficiency and impact on tailpipe emissions
- Consumers and delivery companies driving OOH adoption
Daniel Rueda, CEO at Open Pricer, on how parcel pricing can be leveraged to help deliver sustainable logistics solutions.
- The relationship between pricing and sustainability
- How can investments in new technology and new delivery vehicles be
- Are consumers ready to pay for environmentally sensitive delivery solutions?
- Paradoxes in delivery: price, speed, convenience (in-home vs out-of-home delivery), returns flexibility, and being environmentally friendly
- Compulsory CO2 labelling of parcel delivery options
- Using pricing to drive consumer decisions
- Improving network efficiency - increasing fleet optimisation
- Increasing load factors and the resulting environmental benefits
- The need to obsess over load factors and vehicle capacituy
- Helping e-commerce retailers
- Pricing: gross weight, volumetric, and volume
- Open Pricer’s cloud pricing platform
Jonathan Bouaziz, CEO and co-founder at Kardinal, discusses next-generation route optimisation:
- The traditional use case for route optimisation in the delivery sector
- Why doesn't classic route optimisation work any more?
- Inability of some route optimisers to deal with dynamic parcel volumes and volatility
- Impact of B2C parcel volumes on route optimisation
- Maximising productivity and profitability of delivery subcontractors, while maintaining margin
- The battle for talent - keeping the best contractor drivers
- Route optimising and load balancing across territories
- Why is territory optimisation more relevant than classic route optimisation these days?
- Quality of data and impact on route optimisation tools
- Unlocking value in the delivery network - and not just focusing on the last mile
- Poor data can be overcome
- Kardinal's approach to route optimisation
- Assisting carriers negotiate with subcontractors
- Defining good mix between different delivery vehicles (e.g. vans, cargo bikes)
- Helping delivery companies meet emissions targets
- The "always on" approach to route optimisation
- Kardinal's new partnership with Escher
- The strategic imperative of reducing emissions vs the operational realities
- Defining fleet parameters, optimising territories by suitability of vehicle type, and looking towards the prospective delivery fleet
- Helping provide visibility of sustainability and profitability
Mindaugas Cerpickis, Managing Economist at Copenhagen Economics, discusses the state of the European postal sector, including declining letter volumes, growing parcel volumes, competition in the last mile, sustainability, and more
- Postal sector in Europe is expanding in terms of revenue and headcount
- Growth in total carbon emissions
- Larger, heavier parcels in the delivery stream
- Is e-commerce better for the environment than in-store shopping?
- The irrational behaviour of consumers when shopping online
- How regulations affect CO2 emissions
- Transition from letters to parcels
- What failure to adapt means for the bottom line
- Competition and market share in parcels
- Parcel pricing and the ability for postal operators to be competitive
- Network design and cost-efficiency of parcel delivery
- Increase in State aid during the pandemic, and complexities of State aid
- Accelerated letter volume decline
- Letter pricing, reducing costs in letter delivery (leading to alternative delivery models), and State aid
- Getting approval for changing letter delivery models
- Emerging trends that will impact the postal sector in coming years
- Green transition of the postal sector
- Role of postal regulators and policy makers in helping posts reduce emissions
Luke Lloyd, Head of Markets at the IPC, discusses some of the key findings from IPC's most recent Cross-border E-commerce Shopper Survey.
- How IPC surveys customers on their delivery preferences
- Reasons why consumers are overall buying less
- The value of free delivery
- E-retailers most used for most recent cross-border purchase
- Do consumers really know when they're buying cross-border?
- Importance of delivery speed
- Paying customs fees on cross-border purchases
- What triggers consumer complaints
- Consumer attitudes to sustainable delivery - including delivery speed
- Who pays for sustainable delivery?
- Consumer awareness of sustainability
- IPC's Sustainability Measurement and Management System (SMMS)
Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner North America at Crossroads Parcel Consulting, discusses the two US retail giants - Target and Walmart - and the competition with Amazon in the last mile:
- Walmart and Target's retail footprint, and where their stores are located
- Grocery as part of Walmart's retail offering
- Target and Shipt - and its success in BOPIS (buy online, pickup in store)
- Walmart and Target responding to Amazon's efforts in e-commerce and fast fulfilment / delivery
- Micro fulfilment centres vs regional fulfilment centres in supporting same-day delivery
- The advantage Walmart and Target have over Amazon in retail sites supporting fast delivery
- US consumers embracing BOPIS / click-and-collect
- Customers returning to bricks-and-mortar retailers
- FedEx stores in Walmart locations
- Returns and the physical network advantage
- UPS Store being used for Amazon e-commerce returns
- Third party returns via Walmart and Target stores
- Parcel lockers in US retailers for delivery and returns
- Walmart's GoLocal last mile delivery service
- Walmart+ in-home delivery to the garage... or even the refigerator!
- Security concerns about e-commerce delivery (including lockers)
- Transit times - Amazon dominating in one-day Prime
- Amazon's US fulfilment centre network and faster delivery times
When is a contractor not a contractor? Roel Gevaers, Professor in Last Mile Logistics and Supply Chain, University of Antwerp, discusses proposed legislation that will directly impact postal and delivery contractors:
- Background to proposed legislation targetting sham contracting / false self-employment
- Legislation only focuses on postal and parcel delivery drivers
- BIPT (postal regulator) will administer the legislation, meaning gig economy platforms are exempt
- Obligations on every postal or parcel company to monitor contractors / sub contractors
- Delivery sector needs to crack down on illicit behaviour
- Workload on BIPT
- Should existing legislation be better enforced rather than introducing new legislation?
- Different contracting models, including vehicle ownership, and work for other carriers
- How the legislation could change the contractor relationship
- Broad-based opposition to the legislation
- Impact on last mile costs
- Will delivery companies base themselves in The Netherlands to avoid compliance with Belgian legislation?
- Will the legislation in its current form protect workers from exploitation?
- Heightened interest in electrifying delivery fleets
Logistics and quick delivery expert Quaid Combstock discusses the state of quick commerce, q-commerce and ultrafast delivery. We cover:
- Is the ultrafast local delivery model viable?
- Operational and financial perspectives on q-commerce
- Death of the 15-minute SLA
- Access to "dark stores" in different markets
- Inability to batch orders with 15-minute delivery guarantee
- Ultrafast grocery delivery operators introducing their own retail ranges
- The need to increase margins
- The end game for fast delivery start-ups
- Availability of investor funds
- Merger and acquisition activity
- Is GoPuff looking to acquire?
- What has changed for venture capitalists looking at the delivery sector
- FOMO and VCs
- Competition, profitability, and proof of concept
- Is there a path to profitability?
- What postal and parcel operators need to know
- Understanding time-sensitive customers
- Hyper local collection and delivery
What's holding back the widespread deployment of electric vehicles in delivery fleets? Electric van expert Paul Kirby discusses the practical realities of setting up an EV delivery fleet. We cover:
- Are commercial electric vehicles price-competitive compare to ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles?
- Safety, ease of driving, and practical advantages of electric vehicles
- Improvements in the driving range of commercial electric vehicles
- Infrastructure requirements of an electric delivery fleet
- The "dark art" of vehicle charging
- Government approach to electric vehicles, treating light commercial vehicles the same as passenger vehicles
- Public discourse about private electric vehicles vs commercial vehicles
- Key things fleet managers need to know before converting to electric delivery vehicles
- Understanding payload, charging, and other alternative delivery modes (e.g. cargo bikes)
- The EV Café
Ann Snitko, Chief Product Officer at Omnic, discussing parcel locker network strategy, including optimisation, co-opetition, open networks, and real-time locker management.
- State of the parcel locker market
- The human issues around parcel lockers
- Why growth isn't sustainable in some markets
- Optimising the loading process for parcel lockers
- Carrier specific vs carrier agnostic vs open networks
- Co-opetition in parcel lockers - creating an open platform
- Planning and policy matters relating to parcel lockers
- Sustainability in parcel delivery
- Could parcel lockers be considered infrastructure
- Strategy for parcel lockers and alternative delivery
- How ecommerce brands fit into this delivery ecosystem
- Managing parcel locker capacity in real time
Omnic website: https://b2b.omnic.net/
Has postal reform had any effect on the US Postal Service? Mike Plunkett, President at PostCom, and Mark Fallon, President of the Berkshire Company, discuss the impacts of recent legislative reform:
- Why reform of the US postal system is important to the rest of the world
- UPU reforms show US is willing to take the lead
- Main components of the Postal Service Reform Act
- Mandated six-day-a-week delivery
- Pre-payment of future retiree benefits
- Will removal of this burden have an impact on postal rates?
- Limitations on the USPS's ability to raise its rates
- Monitoring and transparency on delivery performance
- Queries over the reported delivery volumes
- Is it important to track letter delivery service performance?
- Flats processing (large letters, catalogues and periodicals)
- Revenue vs costs for processing flats
- Processing equipment for flats
- Providing government products and services via the USPS post office network
- Are post office closures on the USPS agenda?
- Integrated package and mail services network
- Drone delivery
- Is there more postal reform to come?
- Will the USPS expand beyond its borders?
Swiss Post is encouraging innovation through partnering with and investing in start-ups. Swiss Post Director Open Innovation and Venturing Thierry Golliard explains.
- Why should a postal operator be interested in start-ups?
- Partnering and investing in start-ups, and accessing talent and resources that aren’t currently inside the post
- Ensuring that start-ups aren’t “lost” inside the post
- What success looks like for start-ups
- The importance of teams in creating success
- Swiss Post start-up success stories
- The strategy of investing in start-ups and “selling” the idea to internal stakeholders
- Financial services
- Posts as incubators of new ideas
- Swiss Post’s innovation and start-ups team
Asia Pacific Post Cooperative (APP) Managing Director Sid Hart on APP’s work and initiatives in the postal world, including cross-border packets and sustainability objectives. We cover: * What the APP is and the geographic spread of its members * Providing commercially-focused postal solutionsThe changing nature of the postal business * Bringing postal operators together and formulating products and services * Small island Pacific states * Competition in parcel delivery * APP's ePacket service for high volume lightweight packets * Quality of service for ePacket * ePacket now expanding from Asia to being a globally-accessible service * Impact of climate change and emissions reduction on APP members * How APP is supporting sustainability objectives * Returning mail bags to country of origin
Three delivery experts join me to talk about the trends that will shape e-commerce and delivery in 2023.
Thiemo van Spellen, Group Global Accounts Managing Director at DPDgroup, discusses:
- Impact of geopolitical events on parcel industry
- Ecommerce growth trends
- Finding balance between managing price pressure and dealing with cost increases
- Retailers looking for cross-border growth
- Second-hand / second life marketplaces
- Sustainability and the circular economy
- Optimising end-to-end value chain
- Improving cross-border returns
Ann Snitko, Chief Product Development Officer at Omnic, covers:
- How delivery is changing
- Autonomous transport being used in logistics
- B2B sharing economy
- Delivery robots
- Hyperlocal delivery
- Growth in parcel locker networks
- Parcel locker partnerships
David Spottiswood, co-founder at Hurricane Commerce, gives us the low-down on changes affecting cross-border delivery:
- Regulation and compliance in international parcels
- Governments demanding greater visibility of cross-border parcels
- National governments seeking revenue
- ICS2
- Airlines demanding full and correct data for all shipments
- STOP Act (USA)
- Collecting accurate customs data for parcels
- Protecting market share
- Sustainability
There’s a lot of talk in our sector about sustainable logistics and green delivery… but how can it actually be done? Johan Peeters, an expert in sustainable logistics, talks about the role logistics and delivery plays in creating liveable cities:
- What is emission-free delivery?
- Eliminating tailpipe emissions and sourcing green electricity
- Creating healthier and liveable cities
- How do delivery companies fit into the concept of creating healthier cities?
- Creating different delivery options to offer to e-commerce retailers and consumers
- Value of green space to delivery companies and to people
- 15-minute cities and walkable cities
- Impact of car-free zones on last mile delivery
- Changing customer delivery preferences
- Customer experience and convenience when it comes to last mile delivery
- Sustainable profits
- Cost pressure on delivery, including last mile wage costs
- How delivery companies - including postal operators - can tackle the changing demands of the sustainable last mile
- Leveraging the experience that resides in the postal company
- Changing delivery vehicle, and what that means for volume and drop density
- Convenient solutions for customers - can doorstep delivery be sustainable?
- What form might convenience take for residential and out-of-home delivery?
- Drop density, efficiency, and network design
Escher Group CEO Brody Buhler deep dives into some of the major themes unearthed in Escher's Future of Posts 2022 research, including: * The tale of two networks: delivery and retail * Service models - including self-serve - in post offices * Making delivery and retail networks work together * Exploiting returns * A problem for retailers - but an opportunity for posts * Tailoring returns experiences * Making returns via the post easier for consumers * Collecting returns to compensate for falling letter volumes * Omnichannel * Streamlining customs declarations for cross-border parcels * Optimising the customer experience * Simplifying self-service * Diversification * Branching into grocery and local delivery * Partner or do-it-yourself? * Cross-border at the crossroads * Regulatory changes hitting cross-border volumes * Real-time calculation of customs duties and delivery times * Cross-border returns
Roel Gevaers PhD, Professor in Last Mile Logistics and Supply Chain, University of Antwerp, joins me to discuss the trend of global shipping companies investing in e-commerce delivery:
- Cashed-up shipping companies investing in last mile delivery and e-commerce fulfilment
- European-based container shipping companies such as Maersk, MSC, and CMA CGM making e-commerce fulfilment and delivery acquisitions
- Are they going head-to-head with integrators such as DHL or even Amazon?
- Vertical integration from the port to the customer doorstep
- Should last mile operators be concerned by these acquisitions?
- Integration the full chain, creating a one-stop shop
- Offering a sustainable solution via maritime transport
- Lessons from the pharmaceutical sector in shipping and last mile delivery
- Amazon’s vertical integration journey
- Comparisons between Amazon and Chinese players such as Alibaba
- Larger e-commerce shipments, such as furniture and other two-person delivery items
- Rail’s disadvantages compared with maritime shipping
- The importance of data
- China Post moving from air transport to maritime transport with COSCO
Caryn-Ann Allen, Associate Director of Sustainability at DPDgroup, joins me to discuss DPDgroup’s strategy for achieving net carbon zero:
- DPDgroup's 2040 net zero target submitted to SBTi
- DPDgroup's interim target for 2030
- Why decarbonisation and lower emissions is important to DPDgroup's partners and customers
- How science-based targets work
- Getting to net zero across DPDgroup's entire business, including first mile, last mile, buildings, line haul, and company cars
- Shifting to electric vehicles in the first and last mile
- Going fully electric in 350 European cities
- Decarbonising line haul operations - including electric trucks and hydrogen
- EV charging infrastructure
- Addressing urban logistics challenges in different cities
- Going beyond electric vehicles
- Reducing distances from delivery hubs to recipients
- Urban depot network in Europe
- Low-emission alternatives to vans
- Consumer delivery preferences differing from market to market, for example some markets preferring out-of-home delivery
- What do consumers consider to be sustainable delivery?
- How consumer behaviour influences sustainable delivery
- Focusing on first-time delivery
- Raising consumer awareness of sustainability in delivery
- Reporting on emissions in delivery
- Urban depot trial delivering via cargo bikes as well as functioning as a PUDO
- Dressing room in PUDO
- Using urban spaces differently, for example transforming car parks into parcel distribution points
- Ecosystem thinking
- Understanding sustainability beyond the last mile
- E-commerce packaging
- ReLove initiative handling pre-loved clothing
- Stuart (France) collecting electronics for second life
- Creating a network that supports the circular economy
Professor Alan McKinnon, Professor of Logistics, Kuehne Logistics University, Hamburg, joins me to discuss five strategies to decarbonise urban logistics:
Rationalisation - Route optimisation
Realistic solutions compared to ambitious longer-term options
Switching to lower carbon transport modes
Rail
Cargo cycles
Filling delivery vehicles better and reducing distance travelled
Micro-hubs and consolidation centres
Can intra-urban collaboration be replicated at an urban scale?
Parcel lockers
Physical internet - open systems and remodularisation of transport
Improving energy efficiency of vehicles
Impact of regulation
Vehicles are becoming more efficient
Driver training is one of the best ways to improve vehicle energy efficiency
Delivering at different times of the day, improving fuel efficiency of vehicles
Why we need to worry about energy efficiency even as we move to electric delivery vehicles
Switching to alternative low carbon energy
Batteries will be central to a low carbon future - more so than solutions such as hydrogen
Factors constraining conversion of fleets to electric power
Total cost of ownership – and how many miles do these EVs have to drive to make them better than ICE vehicles?
Which vehicles should be prioritised for conversion from ICE to EVs?
Carbon penalty associated with fast delivery and free returns
Using price mechanisms to encourage sustainable practices
Daniel Rueda, CEO of Open Pricer, discusses parcel pricing strategies, dynamic pricing, fuel surcharges, and more: * Key parcel pricing challenges * Volatility, inflation, and fluctuating demand influencing costs * Impact of fuel price increases * Fuel surcharges (or energy surcharges) and limitations of fuel indexation * Other surcharges, such as safety surcharges * Differentiating price increases per customer * Profile compliance (contract monitoring) * Identifying churn risks and up-sell opportunities * Implementing price increase campaigns * Dynamic pricing * Changing from annual reviews to more frequent reviews * Surcharge incentives to move volumes to off-peak days or weeks * Peak surcharges
Rob King, co-founder and CEO of Zedify, talks about his experience running a cargo bike delivery firm. We cover:
- Creating better cities via zero emission deliveries
- Delivering from urban micro-hubs
- Decoupling trunking and last mile delivery
- Consolidating consignments for local delivery
- Partnerships with 3PLs
- Recycling and reverse logistics
- Case study of battery recycling
- Practical aspects of delivering via cargo bikes
- Cargo bike capacity
- Short stem mileage
- Technology making cargo bike delivery work
- In-house developed route optimisation software
- Carbon efficiency of cargo bikes compared with electric vans
- Amazon's foray into cargo bike delivery in the UK
- Rider satisfaction
- Managing rider shifts
- Evri's trial with Zedify
- Future of last mile delivery
- Differences in cargo bike delivery in different markets
- Cleaner, safer city streets
- Infrastructure for cargo bike delivery
Dr Laetitia Dablanc, Professor at the University Gustave Eiffel and head of the Logistics City Chair, discusses recent research she co-authored entitled "Response to COVID-19 lockdowns from urban freight stakeholders". We discuss:
- A survey focusing on labour, traffic, regulations, and any other issues relevant
- Need to adapt to the volatility and variability of e-commerce orders
- Delivering "essential" goods
- Home delivery vs out-of-home delivery, and the challenges of returning to residential delivery in areas where out-of-home dominated
- Productivity issues during lockdown
- Contactless delivery
- Robot delivery
- City plannings failing to integrate logistics into future plans
- Deliveries not transitioning from vans to cargo bikes
- Urban and suburban warehouses
- Urban hubs and local regulations
- Working conditions of gig economy delivery riders
- Precarious workers prepared to work in gig economy
- Speed of delivery and resulting increase in emissions
- Future protections of gig economy delivery workers
Roel Gevaers PhD, Professor in Last Mile Logistics and Supply Chain, University of Antwerp, joins me to talk about the log-com bubble. We cover:
- Twenty years after the dot-com bubble, should we prepare for a log-com bubble?
- Quick commerce, easy and cheap money, and the drive to acquire customers/market
- The real business model of IT-driven quick commerce delivery companies such as Gorrilas and Getir
- Business models that are unsustainable in the long term
- Dark stores - mini distribution warehouses
- Necessary density of dark stores to enable fast delivery
- Amsterdam cracking down on dark stores
- Operations inside dark stores
- Delivery rider costs, and the real cost of delivery per order
- Quick commerce start-ups setting up their own retail brands
- Retailers such Carrefour and Jumbo buying shares in quick commerce (ultrafast) delivery companies
- Investors in quick commerce and the end-game
- What conditions will allow ultrafast delivery companies to survive?
- Labour laws in Belgium that directly impact on e-commerce delivery and warehouse operations
- Impact of labour costs and tax regimes on delivery and e-commerce operations
Professor John Colley from the Warwick Business School joins me to discuss the profitability of gig economy delivery and ultrafast grocery delivery (q-commerce). We discuss:
- Who is swimming naked in the fast grocery delivery sector
- The conditions that have led to funding flowing into grocery delivery startups
- Inflation and other factors putting downward pressure on consumers' spending power
- Investor funds drying up putting pressure on business models
- Network effects: customers, riders/drivers, and response times
- Ease of entering the ride hailing market (e.g. Uber), and implications for other similar business models, such as takeaway delivery
- Profitability and competition
- The cut major corporates have to take to meet overheads
- When will customers be charged the actual cost of delivery?
- Will gig economy delivery companies ever make a profit?
- Regulating gig economy delivery services and impact on future profitability
- Employees vs contractors, and impact on operating costs
- Governments looking for taxable revenue
- Funding consumers' champagne tastes on a beer budget
- Labour shortages and impact on costs
- Congestion, emissions, and availability of real estate for dark stores
- Forecasts for the future of the gig economy model and rapid grocery delivery
Abdulla Mohammed Alashram, Group CEO of the Emirates Post Group Company, discusses the impact of COVID on the Post's programme of transformation:
- How the entire company showed resilience
- Focus on digitisation and speed of digitisation transformation
- Building partnerships with startups and tech companies
- How the post can be involved in the Metaverse
Then Peter Somers, CEO of Emirates Post, discusses how Emirates Post is getting closer to the customer:
- Expanding delivery touchpoints
- Adding PUDO points, parcel lockers, and kiosks to the physical network
- Proximity, including via partnerships
- Mall kiosks and being close to where the customer is
- Why use a staffed kiosk PUDO model instead of a parcel locker
- 24/7 areas in post offices - including self-service kiosks
- Access to postal services outside major cities in the UAE
Seamus Yendole, Chief Sales Officer at Reason Solutions, joins me to discuss preparing the post for the 21st century:
- The role of the modern post office in communities and in the broader economy
- Postal networks serving new demographics
- The need for the post to be consumer-oriented
- How the post can avoid having its lunch eaten
- The importance of communication in providing an excellent customer experience
- Delivering best-in-class delivery communications with customers
- The need for data and customisable technology
- Advantages of a modular approach to acquiring new postal and delivery technology
- Plugging the gaps in existing postal technology systems
- Affordable retail postal solutions
- Enabling legacy systems and new systems to communicate
- Postal operators' market share eroding because of poor customer experience
- Fiji Post's e-commerce delivery options
- Postal operators focusing on improving consumer satisfaction
Dr Anne Goodchild, Director of the Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center at the University of Washington, discusses urban logistics and parcel lockers, including:
- What the Urban Freight Lab is and how it works in understanding and testing urban freight solutions
- Seattle Neighbourhood Delivery Hub - providing access to goods in neighbourhood-friendly modes
- Collecting parcels by foot from parcel lockers, residential delivery via cargo bike, mobile lockers, and reducing the distances travelled by delivery vehicles
- Emissions, safety, and pleasantness of neighbourhoods
- Partnerships underpinning the Seattle Neighbourhood Delivery Hub pilot
- Evaluation of the pilot - measurable reduction in miles travelled per parcel
- Collaboration with carriers and local governments
- Understanding impact on infrastructure and economics of last mile delivery
- Ideal area for a cargo bike delivery service to cover
- Can cargo bikes feasibly replace delivery vans?
- Measurable reduction in emissions
- Impact on speed of delivery
- Community response
- Delivering large and bulky items
- Parcel lockers research, evaluating impact on operations, distance travelled, speed of delivery at the point of delivery and impact on curb space
- The importance of data when evaluating the impact of e-commerce delivery on cities, including congestion and emissions
Carmen Cureu, Market Research Director at DPDgroup, dives deep into DPDgroup’s e-commerce customer and delivery research.
- The concept of “new commerce”, and the new customer behaviours stimulated by the pandemic
- New categories of e-shoppers, and newcomers to online shopping
- Comparisons with China’s e-commerce shopper profiles
- Basket diversification and what shoppers are buying online - including fresh food
- Opposite trends but with contradictions - DPDgroup’s research into how people buy online and offline
- The second-hand market and environmental sensibilities
- How “sticky” is e-commerce post-COVID and against a background of some international uncertainty?
- Buying cross-border, including Chinese parcel volume trends and the factors driving cross-border trends
- Do customers know when they’re buying cross-border?
- What do e-shoppers want in terms of the delivery experience? Speed, delivery places, and added value services.
- How do delivery preferences vary across different markets?
- Comparisons with Chinese e-shopper delivery preferences
- The rise of out-of-home delivery (delivery to a parcel shop/PUDO or parcel locker) in Europe
- Predictability of home delivery
- Sustainability in delivery and customers’ desire for “green” deliveries
- Economical delivery, added-value, and sustainability
- E-commerce returns
Ukrposhta CEO Igor Smelyansky discusses how Ukrposhta has risen to the challenge of delivering while Ukraine is under attack, and plans for the future.
- Planning delivery routes day-by-day
- Managing staff availability - including in newly-liberated areas
- Quality of delivery
- Making Ukrposhta a centre of reliability for Ukrainians
- Impact of rising fuel costs
- Delivering parcels by rail
- Delivering pensions to millions of Ukrainians - even in temporarily occupied territories
- Delivering food and essentials pre-war and during the war, while coping with fluctuating volumes of parcels
- How Ukrposhta services return when an area is liberated, including mobile facilities and internet
- Public appreciation of the post as critical infrastructure
- Cross-border parcels, both inbound and outbound
- “Suitcase from home” service for Ukrainian refugees outside Ukraine
- International connections, including charter flights
- Delivering inbound international items
- The next big projects for Ukrposhta
- Plans for new sorting centres against background of existential threat
- Eradicating corruption and graft at Ukrposhta
- The importance of trust
- How the global postal community can support Ukrposhta
David Spottiswood and Martyn Noble from Hurricane discuss the impact of world events on the delivery world, in particular cross-border delivery.
- Is globalisation at risk? Increasing regulation, increasing sanctions, increasing indirect tax compliance requirements, protectionism, the pandemic, and the crisis in Ukraine
- Post-pandemic parcel volumes
- Impact of sanctions and denied parties
- Taking denied parties seriously - knowing who you can't sell to online
- Responsibility of all players in the supply chain when it comes to sanctions and denied parties
- Postal leaders obligations to understand the issue of denied parties
- Importance of compliance to postal and delivery companies
- Restricted and prohibited items
- Handling and checking data at speed
- SEKO Logistics and cross-border
- Why marketplaces are starting to look at these cross-border compliance issues seriously
- The Middle East becoming a logistics hub
Tristan Dreisbach, research analyst at the USPS Office of Inspector General, discusses recent USPS OIG on the suitability of electric vehicles for last mile postal delivery. We discuss:
- Three major benefits of adopting electric delivery vehicles, including environmental and cost benefits
- Total cost of ownership of electric vehicles
- Suitability of electric delivery vehicles for last mile postal delivery
- Range, climate, terrain, and the ability of current electric delivery vehicles to cover existing USPS delivery routes
- Stop-start and range
- Charging infrastructure - including different kinds of chargers, costs and impact on the local power grid
- Up-front costs of electric vehicles and ongoing costs, including maintenance
- Different modelling of total cost of ownership comparisons between electric and internal combustion engine powered delivery vehicles
Costa Koulis, co-CEO at Designerex, explains how delivery plays a key role in enabling the peer-to-peer rental marketplace:
- How the peer-to-peer designer dress marketplace works
- How delivery plays a key role in enabling the dress sharing marketplace
- Why the majority send dresses via Express Post (Australia Post’s nationwide express delivery service)
- Enabling resale of designer clothing
- Comparisons with the likes of Rent The Runway
- Working with Australia Post to create its first automated shipping platform for marketplaces
- Returning dresses via the post - including labelling solutions
- Demand for same-day 3-hour delivery
- Keeping clothes out of landfill or furnaces
- Circular economy principles and the fashion rental model
- Why renting requires different logistics tools to resale
- Comparing environmental impact of renting vs resale
John Callan, CEO at Ursa Major Associates, joins me to talk about the US Postal Service as well as the state of the US letters and parcels markets. We cover:
- Key takeaways from the Postal Reform Act, including impact on delivery as well as headline financial impacts
- The new vehicle contract… and electric vehicles!
- Volatility of fuel prices
- US parcel volume trends
- Bringing fulfilment centres closer to the consumer, and issues with 3PLs throttling volumes
- Carrier consolidation via mergers and acquisitions
- Consumers demanding greater visibility of their deliveries
- Are we applying “pizza delivery” standards to products that don’t need to be delivered so fast?
- Microfulfilments centres and dark stores
- Developments with the USPS Parcel Select service, and FedEx and Amazon trying to shift volumes to their own networks
- Amazon pumping parcel volumes into its DSP network
- USPS losing the personal connection with residents - cluster box delivery
- Letter volume trends
- Delivery standards
- Parcel lockers in the USA - can carrier-neutral lockers work in the USA?
- Why the USPS’s own parcel locker network failed
Roel Gevaers PhD, Professor in Last Mile Logistics and Supply Chain, University of Antwerp, joins me to talk about the intersection of logistics and e-commerce. We cover:
- Amazon building its delivery capabilities in Belgium
- Strategic decision-making behind Amazon selecting sites for new delivery stations
- bol.com’s position as leader in the Belgian e-commerce market
- Last mile partnerships for bol.com, including acquisition of Cycloon
- E-commerce companies doing their own deliveries
- Positioning delivery stations for bike courier and cargo bike couriers
- Comparing bol.com with Amazon, including product range, fulfilment, subscription (i.e. Prime), and multi-lingual websites
- Speed of delivery in Belgium, including next-day and same-day
- How Amazon enters new markets
- Amazon delivery modes in Belgium - residential vs out-of-home
- Green delivery, including bpost’s Ecozone project
- Restrictions on warehouse and fulfilment centre overnight operations
- Cross-border fulfilment from neighbouring countries
- Last mile as being an enabler for better customer experience and achieving green goals
- Trends to in-source delivery activities
Fraser MacLean, Managing Director at M&H Carriers, joins me to talk about remote delivery, operating an electric delivery fleet, two-person delivery, and what it's like running a regional carrier. We cover:
- Fraser's career path
- Delivering everything from B2C parcels through to pallets and freight
- Partnerships with DPD, DX, and Pallet Track, and various retailers
- Same-day delivery
- Delivering to remote areas, including islands
- Unattended delivery and delivery via local partners
- Growth in e-commerce since the onset of the pandemic, even in remote areas
- Real-life learnings from operating electric delivery vehicles
- Updating depot infrastructure to charge EVs
- Two-person delivery and its growth potential - including value-added services
- Delivering parcels to remote areas - and rural/remote delivery surcharges
- Delivery density and last mile costs
- Rural and remote customers' reliance on e-commerce
Heleen Buldeo Rai, Postdoctoral researcher at the Logistics City Chair (University Gustave Eiffel, Paris), joins me to talk about the environmental impact of e-commerce delivery:
- Should people shop online or in person?
- How do people make their shopping trips - by car, on foot, or by other means?
- The concept of substitution
- Does an online purchase replace an in-store purchase?
- Click-and-collect
- Browsing and showrooming
- Omnichannel behaviour
- Fragmentation
- Is e-commerce fuelling consumerism?
- What do we do with the time we save by shopping online?
- Customers' overall mobility footprint
- Trip chaining
- Click-and-collect vs PUDO
- Out-of-home delivery in rural and remote areas
- Factors driving consumer choice in delivery options
- Encouraging consumers to make greener delivery choices
- Convenience vs sustainability
- Getting the data on mobility
- The 15-minute city, and what it means for e-commerce delivery
- Transport of heavy goods
Brody Buhler, CEO at Escher Group, joins me to talk about creating high-performing postal and delivery companies, including:
- Posts using real-time data and analytics
- Taking friction out of postal transactions
- Leveraging local knowledge, for example address data
- Using data to optimise inventory, delivery timeframes, and understand the customer
- Trapped value in the last mile and the middle mile
- Automation to play a greater role in the last mile
- Managing e-commerce returns, and the end of the "one size fits all" returns policy
- Using automation to strip out cost and increase capacity
- Trends in cross-border delivery
- Using OCR and automation capabilities for inbound international parcels
- The role of mobile in the modern postal network
- Making international shipments at the post office counter more efficient
- Freeing counter staff for higher value transactions
- Post offices playing a role in the broader delivery strategy
- Reducing costly failed first-time deliveries
- Anticipatory delivery - anticipating the delivery recipient's preferences
- Shifting focus to gather preference data for recipients and post office customers
Austin Reynolds, Manager Market Intelligence at the International Post Corporation (IPC), discusses some of the key findings of the IPC 2021 Global Postal Industry Report, including:
- Geographic spread of the postal operators surveyed for the report
- Posts' performance during the pandemic
- Growth in industry revenue, driven by parcel revenue growth despite shrinking letter revenue
- Impact on letter volumes - and what has accelerated the decline in mail volume
- Volume trends in different letter segments, such as advertising mail, and international mail
- Operational changes in response to falling letter volumes
- Postal operators diversifying their businesses, including via acquisitions
- Evolution of parcel volumes during the pandemic
- Postal operators increasing parcel processing capacity
- Increasing competition, local, regional, and global (including e-commerce retailers moving into the last mile)
- Financial performance, and factors influencing financial results - and common factors across the best-performing posts
Angela Hultberg discusses the recent COP26 event and what it means for the delivery and transport sectors:
- Angela’s work as road transport lead for the Climate Champions in the lead-up to COP26 during 2021
- Announcements from COP26:
- Signing of the Zero Emission Vehicle Declaration
- Global MoU for Heavy Vehicles
- Signatories to the declarations, including vehicle manufacturers
- Making decarbonisation a global conversation
- Deadlines for phasing out the internal combustion engine
- Alternatives to the internal combustion engine - is it all about electrification?
- The gap between leaders and laggards in decarbonising delivery
- Growing public interest in sustainability in delivery
- Reducing emissions while parcel volumes are growing
- E-commerce’s emphasis on speed and what that means for decarbonising transport - could slower delivery be cheaper and reduce emissions?
- Free returns, the fashion industry, and the planet
- At checkout displaying emissions associated with delivery options
- The special environmental challenge for the postal sector
Anna Möller Boivie, Managing Director (Stockholm) at Copenhagen Economics, discusses proposals to change the EU Postal Service Directive:
- Who and what are covered by the Postal Services Directive
- Parcels are part of the USO (universal service obligation) in some markets
- Competition in the parcels sector - including domestic and cross-border
- Should parcels be regulated?
- Why the EC has a special interest in cross-border delivery in the European Union
- Publishing wholesale parcel pricing
- Regulation covering all carriers (of a certain size) - not just postal operators
- Amazon getting caught in the definition of a postal operator - and therefore being subject to regulation
- Standardising regulation and postal market definitions - including widening definition to include other operators such as Amazon
- Bottlenecks and market failures
- Next steps for the Postal Services Directive
- Environmental issues and the Postal Services Directive
- Letter delivery frequency and speed
Kate Muth, Executive Director at IMAG (International Mailers Advisory Group), gives us an update on advance electronic data and cross-border delivery:
- What led to an increased focus on EAD:
- UPU
- STOP Act
- Push for 100% provision of AED
- What happens to US-bound shipments with inaccurate, missing or incomplete AED
- Informed compliance and the “grace period”
- Outbound shipments from USA, and focus on the US Postal Service collecting 100% EAD
- Latency in USPS internal systems and what impact that has on outbound international shipments
- Early drivers of EAD / AED exchange
- VAT
- Customs being overwhelmed by low-value parcels
- Counterfeits
- Compliance for private carriers compared to postal operators
- Are customs authorities using all the advance electronic data? Is the data collection being effective in reducing opioids and counterfeits in the mail?
- Confusion between different rules on data required, eg HS2 codes
- Customers having to pay more to receive their parcels
- Movement to reduce de minimis
- Rejection of US-bound shipments in the most customer-centric way
- Waivers granted to some countries and the plan to not grant waivers in the future
- Major topics for cross-border in 2022, including air lift capacity, and proceedings at the UPU
In this special episode, four experts from the delivery world join me to talk about the trends that are bubbling beneath the surface… for now!
Mike Richmond, Chief Commercial Officer at Doddle, discusses:
- Pressure points on e-commerce delivery:
- Supply chain problems and growing costs
- Increased rates of e-commerce returns
- Last mile capacity management
- Increasing value of including PUDO in delivery networks
- E-commerce returns
- The need to better understand customers
- Driving savings via digital returns
- Lack of delivery options at checkout
- Delivery companies undervaluing their importance to customer conversion at checkout
- Nudge theory - check episode 171 of the Postal Hub Podcast for more
Wayne Haubner, CTO at Escher, covers:
- What digital transformation means for the postal and parcel sector:
- Automation, data, and the customer experience
- Going from “delivery point” mentality to “customer” mentality
- Moving from customer information being stored in employee’s minds to a digital system
- New postal services
- Using automation to reduce costs
David Spottiswood, co-founder at Hurricane Commerce, joins me to cover:
- Legislative changes in 2021 affecting cross-border delivery
- Automating cross-border data exchange
- Impact on low value cross-border parcel volumes
- Are e-commerce retailers collecting and using the right data for cross-border purchases? Are customs authorities doing the right thing?
- Reducing needless returns
- HS code database update
Bertrand Späth, co-founder at Kizy Tracking, discusses:
- Predictability of delivery
- Last mile capacity management
- The delivery of everything!
- Delivery of pharmaceuticals
Marek Różycki, Managing Partner Last Mile Experts, and Dean Maciuba, Last Mile Experts North America, join me to discuss the major trends in the last mile in 2021. In part two of this two-part discussion, we cover:
- Automating the last mile - can autonomous vehicles get from the street to the customer’s front door?
- Semi-autonomous delivery
- Parcel lockers:
- Lockers as part of an overall delivery network, including PUDOs and residential delivery
- Parcel locker adoption in the USA vs Europe
- Is porch piracy really an issue?
- UPS and FedEx opening access points (PUDOs) instead of parcel lockers
- How lockers increase productivity for delivery drivers
- Carrier-neutral parcel lockers
- Why “green-washing” does the delivery sector a great disservice
-
Is Amazon the biggest delivery company on Earth?
Marek Różycki, Managing Partner Last Mile Experts, and Dean Maciuba, Last Mile Experts North America, join me to discuss the major trends in the last mile in 2021:
- Micro-fulfilment centres - powering next-day and same-day delivery
- Who pays for on-demand delivery?
- Why Amazon wants to own the customer - and how the last mile forms a crucial part of its plans
- Point-to-point delivery and its impact on traffic congestion
- Role of out-of-home delivery in creating last mile capacity - including same-day delivery
- City logistics - will it succeed?
- Ultra-fast or super-fast (sub-20 minute) delivery, with fulfilment via a local dark store
- Will these start-ups survive when the VC cash runs out?
- Consolidation in the sector
- Grocery delivery - residential delivery, smart locks, BOPIS / click-and-collect, refrigerated parcel lockers
- The importance of software in solving last mile delivery issues and improving the customer experience - and powering first-time delivery
Sass J-Baleh, Head of Industrial and Logistics Research at CBRE, joins me to talk about the logistics and warehouse real estate market:
- Similarities between the Australian logistics real estate market and global logistics real estate
- Factors driving growth in logistics and warehouse real estate
- The Australian logistics property sector:
- Development and investment activity
- Occupier demand and rental growth
- Current and forecast vacancy rates
- Sectors driving growth in demand for logistics space:
- Online grocery - omnichannel driving demand
- Transport, postal and warehousing
- Amazon driving demand
- Location and size of logistics sites
- Inventory and demand planning
- The need for speed
- Options for last mile logistics sites - outside traditional logistics precincts, and even in shopping centres
- Other factors squeezing the logistics and distribution real estate market - including the food and beverages sector, and population growth
- Can real estate supply meet long-term demand?
- Forecast for the logistics property sector, including:
- Re-shoring of manufacturing
- Reassessment of optimum inventory levels
- Transport costs and last mile efficiency
- E-commerce returns and reverse logistics - impact on future demand for floorspace
Anne Pardoe, Policy Manager for Post and Telecoms at Citizens Advice, joins me to discuss Citizens Advice’s recently published Parcel League Table:
- Overview of Citizens Advice’s role as a consumer advocate in the UK delivery sector
- Regulation of parcel delivery in the UK
- Growth in number of customers' delivery complaints
- Main categories of consumer delivery complaints
- Issues for disabled customers when it comes to residential delivery
- Examples of delivery complaints from customers
- Evaluating customer service - including various data sources, including social media
- Giving customers control and visibility of their parcel deliveries
- Making it easier for customers to resolve delivery complaints
- Delivery drivers’ experiences, and how that impacts on delivery quality
- Tools to fix delivery issues and driver problems
- Top 3 things delivery companies can do to improve their rating on the Citizens Advice league table
- Out-of-home delivery in rural and remote areas - including Post Office Limited’s new deals with DPD and Amazon
Click here for more on the Citizens Advice Parcel League Table.
Sharick Mirza, CEO at Assurety Consulting, and Rex Bull, CMO at Assurety Consulting, join me to talk about the cost and benefits of implementing a data analytics strategy for postal, delivery, and e-commerce operators:
- Integrate different data sets, e.g. operations, transportation, delivery and sales, to create a single view of the customer and products (2:30)
- Business transformation and workflow automation (4:30)
- Integrating silos as part of business transformation (5:35)
- The dangers of buying off-the-shelf technology without understanding if it is right for the business (7:30)
- Difference between reports and analytics (8:00)
- Machine learning, AI, and developing a business integration roadmap
- Is AI just a buzzword? (10:45)
- The questions CEOs and senior managers need to ask of IT leaders and potential suppliers (11:30)
- Using data to predict parcel deliverability (13:30)
- Make small improvements that translate into big savings (14:50)
- Having a three-dimensional view of the business via data (16:40)
- Case study, with insights into delivery, supply chain, sales, data warehousing, advanced analytics and the scale of the investment (17:20)
- Breaking down silos in large enterprises (22:00)
- The emergency room concept in breaking down silos and creating teams (22:50)
- The costs and benefits of digital transformation through a data analytics strategy (23:55)
Marek Różycki, Managing Partner at Last Mile Experts (and my co-host on the Last Mile Prophets), joins me to discuss Amazon's delivery, culture, and last mile innovation:
- Amazon France Logistique missing its parcel targets, and potentially losing market share
- Culture clash: Amazon leadership principles vs local culture, laws and regulation
- Strength of unions in Europe compared to the USA
- Shutdowns at Amazon's warehouses during the initial COVID outbreak
- Amazon entering local markets
- How e-commerce retailers have demanded last mile innovation
- InPost and Mondial Relay providing extra competition in the last mile
- The FedEx TNT deal
- The importance of local delivery partners
James Atkinson, Sustainability Programme Manager at DPD Ireland, joins me to discuss:
- Installing air quality sensors on DPD delivery vans in Ireland and across Europe
- Measuring PM 2.5, and why it’s important to monitor PM2.5 levels
- How data will be used by DPD, local authorities, and other groups
- Commuter Exposure Assessment Tool
- How DPD can capture accurate data
- Monitoring on electric and diesel vans
- Ongoing electrification of DPD Ireland’s fleet, and options for line haul trucks such as CNG
- Cost vs value in environmentally-sensitive last mile delivery
- Using technology to reduce distance driven in delivery
- DPD’s route optimisation project which is increasing delivery driver efficiency
- Driver training and benefiting from local driver expertise
- Using technology to help new drivers learn delivery routes
Brody Buhler, CEO at Escher Group, joins me to talk about post offices, new technology, out-of-home delivery, and much more:
- Transformation in the delivery world means transformation of post offices
- Last mile capacity - and what the lack of capacity means for e-commerce
- How post offices can be used to add last mile delivery capacity
- Out-of-home delivery - preferred pickup destinations vs failed first-time deliveries
- Growth in parcel inductions via the post office network
- Fulfilling local e-commerce and the concept of continuous delivery
- Making fast delivery more affordable
- Last mile technology in post offices and PUDOs
- Customers’ preferences for contactless interactions
- Self-assess kiosks for parcel lodgement (including OCR) and self-service solutions
- Making self-service frictionless and customer-friendly
- Creating 24-hour customer service zones, including parcel induction and parcel lockers
- Customers who want face-to-face service at the post office
- The evolving role of post office staff, including how counter operators add value to customer service
- The big issues facing postal operators in operating their post office networks
- Improving parcel flow
- Mobile point-of-sale technology
Out-of-home (OOH) delivery is a crucial part of preparations for peak and for building a smarter last mile. In this replay of this DPDgroup / Last Mile Prophets webinar, Yves Delmas, COO Europe of DPDgroup, joins Marek Różycki and me to discuss:
- Statistics on parcel growth during the pandemic
- Changes in consumer purchasing habits
- What's driving growth in OOH delivery
- Environmental benefits of OOH delivery
- Traffic, low-emissions zones, and urban logistics
- OOH delivery modes (including PUDOs and parcel lockers)
- PUDO and parcel locker networks
- DPDgroup and the Post Office (UK)
- Role of OOH in the reshaping of retail post-COVID
- The C2C challenge (including second-hand marketplaces such as Vinted and OLX)
- The technology that is the "secret sauce" to last mile delivery success
Sharick Mirza, CEO at Assurety Consulting, and Rex Bull, CMO at Assurety Consulting, join me to talk about using data to improve the customer experience in delivery and reverse logistics:
- Case study of how data improved the customer experience for a medical devices company’s reverse logistics services
- Matching delivery data to customer communications
- Using the data to find optimum delivery times (e.g. 5-day delivery or 3-day delivery)
- Measurable results from improving the customer experience in reverse logistics
- Informed Delivery and enhancing the customer experience in letters
- Converting clicks to leads and sales
- How mail items represent a brand
- Informed Greetings
- How performance measurement tool Informed Visibility can improve the customer experience
- Using tracking data for digital marketing
- Analytics-based tracking platform
- Harnessing social media data (Instagram, Facebook, etc) to evaluate customer experience at post offices
- Using analytics to assess social media data, rather than using a manual process
- Improving post office processes via data mining
Peter Somers, CEO at Emirates Post, joins me to discuss digital transformation and e-commerce:
- Impacts of the pandemic on Emirates Post
- How Emirates Post now acts like a private company
- Future of letter delivery - including volumes and delivery to PO Boxes
- Last mile revenue growth - B2B and B2C
- Delivery partnership with Amazon
- Amazon’s local presence in the UAE - and its own delivery network
- New e-commerce players entering the market
- Increasing last mile capacity in the face of growing demand
- Will pandemic-fuelled delivery trends “stick”?
- Dubai as a hub for e-commerce and parcels
- The new e-commerce zone
- The importance of people - the Emirates Post team - and service
- Improving communications with staff, especially during a period of transformation
- Future trends in the last mile in the UAE, including same-day delivery, out-of-home (parcel lockers and PUDOs)
- Challenges of delivering in extreme heat
- Winning the Industry Leadership Award at World Post & Parcel Awards 2021
James Atkinson, Sustainability Programme Manager at DPD Ireland, joins me to discuss:
- The “free pass” the world gave the delivery sector on emissions during the pandemic
- Sustainability being about people, planet and profit
- DPD Ireland’s electric delivery vehicle fleet
- Key developments in electric vans leading to wider adoption in the delivery sector
- Charging infrastructure for electric delivery vehicles
- Managing electricity costs and charging as efficiently as possible
- Solar power, green electricity, and reducing energy consumption in buildings
- DPD Ireland trialling a CNG truck in linehaul
- DPD Ireland’s urban delivery pilot - including cargo bikes and a bus
- How sustainable delivery relates to the delivery experience
- Promoting “green” delivery to consumers
- E-commerce packaging
Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner Last Mile Experts North America, joins me to talk about last mile delivery contractor models, including:
- How FedEx’s acquisition of RPS started FedEx Ground’s contractor model
- Low-cost shipment models and e-commerce growth
- Plans to merge FedEx Ground and Express - contractors or employees?
- Amazon Delivery Service Partner (DSP) model
- Key differences between Amazon DSP and FedEx Ground contracts, including:
- Managing territory vs owning a territory
- Up-front capital requirements
- Long-term profitability
- Becoming a FedEx Ground contractor - including similarities to buying a franchise
- Applying to become an Amazon Delivery Service Partner
- Factors influencing differences in remuneration for FedEx Ground and Amazon DSP models
- Contract terms, and termination of contract - and risks to capacity
- Australia Post contractor models - including parcel contracts
- Tendering and awarding of Australia Post delivery contracts
- Calculating costs over the course of a last mile delivery contract
- Electric vehicles in contracted delivery fleets - including NZ Post
- Contractor models and reducing costs in the last mile
- Trends in contracting, including cost and capacity
- Out-of-home delivery in North America
- US Postal Service
Abdulla Mohammed Alashram, Group CEO of the Emirates Post Group Company, joins me to discuss postal transformation and the future for Emirates Post:
- What got the Emirates Post Group Company started on the road to transformation
- Creating a future-focused operational model
- Aspects of Emirates Post that are being transformed
- Three main business units: retail (post offices), parcels and express, and international
- COVID’s impact on the transformation strategy
- Customers’ response to Emirates Post’s digitisation
- Addressing
- PO Boxes and e-commerce delivery, including:
- Home delivery
- Post office delivery
- New PUDO network launching this year
- Parcel lockers
- The role of post offices in Emirates Post’s strategy
- Improvements to post office operations
- Digitisation of post office transactions
- Public reaction to postal transformation
- The future for postal operations - including automation
Retail and e-commerce consultant Richard Umbers (former CEO Star Track, Executive General Manager Parcel & Express Services at Australia Post) joins me to discuss:
- The rise of e-commerce and the importance of last mile distribution
- What COVID changes in e-commerce, including online grocery
- How e-commerce went from discretionary spend to spending on necessities
- Impact of pandemic on capacity (including cold chain capacity)
- Innovation in logistics and other parts of e-commerce
- The hallmarks of omnichannel supply chain
- Identifying individual parcels in the network, and how that tracking triggers actions
- Seamless flow of data between order management, CRM, and logistics
- Interactive Digital Management (IDM)
- Postal operators and digitisation - giving customers visibility of their shipments
- Shifts in technology that enable D2C e-commerce
- E-commerce returns and the omnichannel supply chain
- Last mile trends in online grocery (speed and type of delivery)
- Increasing sophistication of the supply chain - and the viabilities of models that rely on that supply chain
- How data and exchange of data enables modern delivery - including superfast local delivery
- Future innovation in the last mile and the supply chain
Sharick Mirza, CEO at Assurety Consulting, and Rex Bull, CMO at Assurety Consulting, join me to talk about the digital mailbox:
- Assurety’s history with the US Postal Service’s Informed Delivery
- What Informed Delivery is for consumers, businesses, and the post:
- Sustaining letter volumes
- Helping marketers exponentially increase ROI
- Giving customers a preview of their mail
- Penetration and saturation of Informed Delivery - including projections for usage rates
- Exceptionally high open rates for Informed Delivery messages
- Benefits to mailers of Informed Delivery or digital mailbox apps
- Insights that marketers can get from a digital mailbox solution such as Informed Delivery
- Improved response rates to marketing messages
- Informed Visibility - and how it relates to the concept of the intelligent barcode
- How mid-sized and small posts can use data to provide a digital mailbox service
- Providing a single platform on a smartphone to track parcels, including returns
- Helping companies plan marketing and sales campaigns using the mail and Informed Delivery
- How to get started adding value to mail
- Why postal operators shouldn’t be intimidated of embracing technology to improve the delivery experience - regardless of scale
- Sharing delivery data on social media
Big changes happening in cross-border e-commerce in 2021. Martyn Noble and David Spottiswood, co-founders of Hurricane Modular Commerce join me to discuss:
- A look back at what's happened since Jan 1 and how it's affected the world of cross-border e-commerce
- Brexit, VAT, IOSS
- What have we learned from the implementation of Brexit and its impact on cross-border trade?
- Country of origin - the new question for cross-border e-commerce
- Northern Ireland protocol (EU origin goods)
- How government bodes have reacted to Brexit - example from Hurricane and An Post
- Why data is king
- STOP Act - update
- The sticky end in store for undeclared goods destined for the USA
- July 1 – EU VAT Package (including the removal of the VAT exemption on low value items under €22)
- Electronic advanced data (EAD/AED) transmission for postal operators
- Clearance fees
- Introduction of the Import One-Stop Shop – levelling the playing field between EU e-retailers and third country online retailers and marketplaces
- €140 billion in unpaid VAT
- The doorstep surprise - customers having to pay extra duties/customs charges to the delivery company for receipt of their cross-border purchases
- The financial incentives to posts and carriers to have the right data
- Hurricane's growth, and the growth of cross-border e-commerce over the past few years
- The postal and delivery companies that work with Hurricane
- The first file to the last mile
Sam Rahim, General Manager Canada Post Business Transformation Deployment, joins me to talk about about Canada Post’s business transformation project:
- Overview of Canada Post’s Retail Transformation Programme
- Transforming the Canada Post network to adapt to growing parcel volumes and changing consumer needs
- Upgrading hardware and software in processes
- Importance of the post office network for inducting parcels into the postal network - the first mile
- Simplifying products and processes
- Improving the customer experience and the counter officer (clerk) experience
- Clarifying postal language
- Engaging counter staff in the development process
- Reducing training requirements
- Post office network - different operating models
- Canada Post PUDO network - Parcel Pickup
- Fast setup of new PUDO points - technology and training
- Over-the-counter transactions
- Using technology to identify parcel hot spots
- Enabling better reporting
- Measuring counter operator (clerk) experience
- The need to continue to measure
Kate Muth, Executive Director at IMAG, joins me to talk about the future of letter and parcel delivery in the USA:
- Postal reform:
- Is this the best opportunity in years for meaningful change?
- Implications for parcels and letters in the USA
- Lack of clear definition of the Universal Service Obligation in the USA
- The letters monopoly – should it be opened to competition?
- Upstream preparation of letters (work share)
- The mailbox monopoly
- What is the most convenient way for customers to receive letters and parcels?
- Do recipients still value mail?
- Mail as a two-sided market
- Parcel delivery frequency
- Alternate day letter delivery
- Post office network access
- Who would be involved in formulating the USO?
Sharick Mirza, CEO at Assurety Consulting, and Rex Bull, CMO at Assurety Consulting, join me to talk about data, delivery, and fraud prevention:
- Data and visibility of customers, delivery, transportation, bottlenecks, and more
- Removing silos to bring together insights available from data
- Address data and the intelligent barcode - linking customer and address information
- Leveraging insights from intelligent barcodes across the enterprise
- The pay-off for intelligent barcode data - even for small delivery operations
- How address data can combat fraud and transporting prohibited or illicit substances
- Detecting fraud using address data
- Machine learning and optimising operations - for example, detecting problems in the delivery network
- How data can be used to create new products - including crossing over between digital and physical products
- Data and up-selling
- Cleansing data
- Giving CEOs , senior executives and managers a high-level view of operations, via tools such as KPIs and dashboards, or an operations-level view
- Improving first time parcel delivery rates
- Bringing in data from different sources, e.g. social media, weather, to help improve delivery
Wayne Haubner, Escher Group CTO, and Keith Emery, Product manager track-and-trace at Escher, join me to talk about track-and-trace, route optimisation, and modern e-commerce delivery:
- The big changes in the parcel environment - and it’s not just growth, it’s about flexibility
- The role data plays in parcel delivery and providing transparency to customers
- Customs data
- How postal operators can create flexible and dynamic delivery networks
- Route optimisation and redirection of parcels
- Creating a unified way of delivering and the delivery experience, while improving first-time delivery success
- Reducing calls to customer service contact centres
- Quality of service
- Escher’s new Riposte Track Trace and Last Mile Delivery product
- Flexible delivery options, including PUDO, lockers, time-slot delivery, full visibility of deliveries
- Additional services in the last mile, including fresh, pharma, and other home delivery services
- Dynamic route adjustment and elimination of paperwork
- Technology and the battle for talent
- Flexible workforce to deal with peak season - including dealing with agency workers and reducing training costs
- Bringing in new customers for delivery companies
- The development of route optimisation technology - including real-time route optimisation while the driver is out on the delivery route
- Enabling efficient same-day delivery via route optimisation
- Giving customers control over their deliveries without burdening the post with excessive costs
- Remote on-boarding and training
- Usability of hand-held delivery devices
- Modernising delivery and retail networks
- Being customer-centric and focusing on the customer experience
Perry Lavergne from Last Mile Experts North America / Perry Lavergne Consulting discusses measuring postal performance:
- Why postal operators should measure postal performance
- The role of the postal regulator (monitoring, pricing and enforcement)
- Regulators showing understanding of postal conditions when monitoring postal performance
- Measuring performance of international mail service (inbound and outbound)
- Reimbursement for international mail (Universal Postal Union - UPU)
- Targets, terminal dues, and performance
- International mail entering the domestic mail stream
- Cross-border parcels in the postal stream
- RFID and monitoring delivery
- Using performance data domestically and internationally
- Which leg of the journey is most important in international mail? (In particular for remuneration under UPU terminal dues)
- Who is accountable for delivery failures?
- EMS and PRIME Exprès - monitoring performance and payment
- Modern proof of delivery relating to IPC/UPU cross-border products - including scanning for track-and-trace
International IT security expert John Taylor, most recently divisional CIO at AGL, joins me to talk about the core cyber security issues delivery and postal companies need to understand:
- Critical infrastructure and security risk
- Top three strategic priorities for Boards and CEOs for enterprise IT security:
- Governance
- Awareness
- Incident response
- How being world-class in these three areas will allow companies to respond quickly to threats and attacks
- The role of end users, customers, and technical staff in cyber security
- The role of larger corporations in helping small companies in IT security
- Recovering from IT outages - part of incident response - lessons from recent Toll and TNT cyber attacks
- Building cyber-resilient systems
- Role of the CEO in responding to a cyber attack
- Phishing and fraud attacks on consumers
- Educating customers and sharing learnings post-security event
- Where should the head of IT security be in the company? C-Suite?
- The importance of leadership in IT security
- Security, strategy, and the modern take on enterprise IT
- The reliance of the delivery sector on IT
Tony Walmsley, performance coach, profiling specialist, former professional manager, and founder of The Leaders Advisory, joins me to discuss creating high performance teams:
- Dealing with stress in teams - in particular during peak season
- Defining high performance for individuals and teams
- Immersing teams in a productive environment
- Understanding personality types
- Why disengagement is at high levels in the workforce
- Recruitment - including recruiting for peak season
- Authentic management style - leading authentically, and self-awareness
- Different roles in postal and delivery companies, and what that means for managing teams
- Diversity of mindsets and keys to success in management
- What staff members want from their managers
- Workplace culture
- External hires managing established teams
- Unearthing the competitive advantage in teams - and how authenticity is central
- Motivation and performance
- Changes in senior executive management team and uncertainty in the rest of the organisation
Does Amazon’s market dominance make it at risk of being broken up by the US government? Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner (North America) Last Mile Experts, joins me to discuss:
- Amazon’s incubator for start-up trucking companies
- Why Amazon is so interested in trucking (truckload and LTL)
- Comparisons with Amazon’s DSP (Delivery Service Partner) model
- Increase in trucking failures in the USA during 2020
- Walmart’s trucking and distribution network
- Amazon creating a Walmart-like network at a lower cost
- AT&T, Microsoft, Standard Oil, and US government intervention (antitrust)
- Is Amazon’s dominance similar to Standard Oil’s dominance?
- Political lobbying in the USA and Europe
- How Amazon does a better job than many other online retailers
- Do consumers care if Amazon becomes some sort of monopoly?
- Checks and controls on monopolies such as postal or utility monopoly operators
- Jeff Bezos stepping down as CEO - is it perfect timing?
- Market dominance wasn’t an issue during the pandemic
- The US Presidency…?
- Seller-fulfilled Prime - murmurings of discontent
- Rules and controls on seller-fulfilled Prime
- Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) capacity
- Expansion of Amazon’s last mile network in the USA
- US Postal Service’s Parcel Select service, Amazon (and FedEx) volumes, and service standards
Bertrand Späth, co-founder Kizy Tracking and Business Development at Spectos, joins me to talk about squeezing more efficiency from parcel sorting:
- Responding to the pandemic’s parcel surge
- Processing wildly fluctuating parcel volumes
- Availability of staff to work in parcel processing centres
- Profitability of parcels - making money on a service with thin margins
- Delivering more with the same capacity while satisfying customers
- Becoming more efficient in parcel processing - automation of parcel sorting
- Inefficiencies that currently exist in automated sorting machines
- Challenges in reading addresses (including cross-border parcels)
- What unreadable addresses mean in terms of volumes
- Saving 20 - 50% on sorting costs through automating the sorting of parcels that currently must be manually sorted
- Using OCR with video coding to achieve 99% automated reading of addresses
- How video coding can work with sorting machine technology
- Correcting incorrect addresses on address databases, and implications for improved sorting accuracy
- Managing teams in delivery networks
- Flexibility benefits of outsourced video coding
John Callan, founder and CEO of Ursa Major Associates, joins me to discuss recent news and developments at the US Postal Service:
- DeJoy’s recent appearance before the House Committee
- Service failures
- Proposals to amend letter delivery standards
- Rate increases
- Air carriage of letters
- The legendary USPS strategic plan - again!
- Focusing on last mile capabilities, and reducing cost in the middle mile
- Frequency of delivery (6/7 days per week)
- Last mile capacity for parcels and letters
- USPS Board of Governors - President Biden’s nominees
- New USPS delivery vehicle
- Why have one supplier instead of multiple vehicle suppliers?
- Electric delivery vehicles
- Consultation with unions on the USPS strategic plan
- USPS delivering last mile for Amazon, FedEx, and UPS (Parcel Select)
- Delivering to cluster boxes (community mailboxes) and what it means for USPS’s delivery advantage
- Amazon and FedEx pulling parcels out of Parcel Select
- Letter pricing and impact on marketing mix
- Options available to postal operators to reduce costs in letter delivery
- Developing rate structures that encourage customers to use the US Postal Service
Marshall Hughes, Director (Oceania) at Packoorang, joins me to talk about packaging, recycling, and the circular economy:
- Boom in e-commerce means boom in cardboard and plastic
- Figures on cardboard and plastic recycling and wastage
- Consumer behaviour and packaging
- Box sizes and shipping air
- Government rules on waste and recycling
- Green zones
- What the circular economy is and how it relates to e-commerce and delivery
- Financial benefit to reusable packaging / courier bags
- Marketing benefit to being part of the circular economy
- Packoorang recyclable bags, packaging, and pallets
- Reverse logistics for recycling
- Dropping off recyclable products at retail outlets… or even lockers!
- Reporting environmental impact from Packoorang data
- The need for action - driven by the government or e-commerce retailers
Marek Różycki, Managing Partner at Last Mile Experts, joins me to discuss the forces and trends driving innovation in the last mile:
- What has been driving innovation in the last mile in Poland
- Lodging returns via parcel lockers
- Customer-centric delivery features
- Growth in parcel volumes over recent years – even pre-pandemic
- The future for cross-border parcels – including marketplaces
- Amazon creating local presence outside the USA
- Amazon’s existing infrastructure in Poland
- Amazon Fresh expanding in Spain and Italy – what about Poland?
- Will Amazon’s full offering be introduced in markets outside the USA?
- Background to Amazon launching Amazon Fresh
- Smart locks and in-home / in-garage delivery
- Solving parcel delivery problems by implementing existing technology
- The never-ending need to invest in last mile tech
Paul Yewman, CEO of PostTag, joins me to discuss the world’s delivery addiction and making delivery more efficient:
- Transformation of shopping habits and pressure on delivery
- Comparison of delivery statistics between lockdown and non-lockdown periods
- Driver shortages and the competition for drivers - implications for capacity and last mile costs
- Food delivery drivers going cross-platform
- Investment in tech systems behind e-commerce and delivery
- How to create an efficient delivery (and returns) experience
- Creating more delivery windows - for example in supermarket delivery
- Finding addresses quickly and efficiently
- E-commerce players buying online portions of retailers’ businesses - is this the death-knell for the high street?
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the bricks-and-mortar retail world - and what that will in turn mean for omnichannel retail and delivery
- Is there a cure for the world’s delivery addiction? Or better still: how does our sector meet customers’ expectations?
- The importance of location data and address validation
- Getting drivers to the right address first time and every time
- The three reasons why shoppers get their address wrong
- Are people shopping while under the influence?
- How PostTag is helping Hermes drive delivery efficiency and improve the customer delivery experience
- A huge increase in first-time delivery success
- Address validation in different countries, including Ireland and places in the Middle East
- Delivering to green zones, ultra low emissions zones, and making delivery more efficient - and how address validation helps
- Reducing kilometres driven
- Navigating one-way city street systems
- Range anxiety for electric delivery vehicles
- Route optimisation
- Utilisation of car parks as delivery hubs
Visit PostTag’s website posttag.com for more.
Rachel Beddow, Principal Policy Manager for Postal Services and Telecoms at Citizens Advice, joins me to discuss customer research on delivery problems:
- Delivery issues that predate the COVID-19 pandemic
- Statistics on UK customers experiencing problems with delivery
- Which groups were disproportionately affected by delivery problems
- Delivery problems not limited to any one carrier
- Kinds of delivery problems experienced by UK customers - including people who were at home 24 hours per day!
- Why a delivery failure is only the beginning of a customer’s delivery problem
- Difficulties in resolving delivery failures
- Public awareness campaigns in advance of 2020 peak season
- Spike in consumer complaints
- Factors behind delivery problems - more than just capacity issues
- Consumer protections not keeping up with the rapidly changing retail sector
- Lack of regulation of major parcel carriers in the UK
- Is parcel delivery an essential service? What does that mean for definitions of when a delivery is “late”?
- Current consumer protections in delivery
- Why some customers don’t complain or try to resolve delivery problems
- How can consumers be made aware of their rights and ways to resolve delivery issues?
- What can carriers do without waiting for regulators to take action about consumer protections?
- Communications with the delivery driver to help ensure first-time delivery to disabled customers
- Using the available technology to improve the delivery experience for customers
- Delivery driver workload and meeting customer expectation
Is seamless global cross-border e-commerce a thing of the past? Brexit has already disrupted international parcel delivery. Martyn Noble and David Spottiswood, co-founders of Hurricane Modular Commerce join me to discuss:
- Barriers coming up in cross-border e-commerce
- How data can facilitate a return to seamless cross-border e-commerce
- The “wild west” days are over! Data is now hugely important
- The size of the global cross-border market - and how much is being carried by the world’s postal operators
- Going from a hybrid paper/data international model to a huge scale market that requires data and digital processes
- The doorstep surprise - customers having to pay extra duties/customs charges to the delivery company for receipt of their cross-border purchases
- Mainstream media coverage of the doorstep surprise phenomenon
- The need for cost transparency at the point of purchase
- What happens to refused deliveries? The costly and inefficient returns process - in a very tight air cargo market
- Delivery companies, retailers, and 3PLs having to respond to Brexit, ICS2, Stop Act, and new VAT regulations
- Carriers don’t want to deal with payments at the customer’s doorstep
- ICS2 coming into effect on 15 March - implications for selling into the EU
- The importance of the UK and EU markets
- STOP Act - new implementation date of 15 March
- Risk of non-compliance with STOP Act for articles bound for the USA - could up to 750m parcels be rejected per year?
- Have retailers been lulled into a false sense of security over cross-border compliance?
- Item data: Product description, commodity description, customs coding, consignee/consignor information
- Regulation - cost or opportunity?
- 2021 is not the end of increasing regulation of cross-border e-commerce, including duty on inbound parcels
- China’s increasing interest in compliance
- New export controls - including denied parties - for parcels coming out of China
- Increasing scrutiny of description of goods - “gift” will no longer be acceptable!
- An example of how bpost is already enforcing this at the post office counter (harmonised codes, HS6, etc)
- The importance of data in driving customs codes and customs inspections
- The first file to the last mile
The US Presidential election is over… but what’s the future for the US Postal Service? Mark Fallon, President and CEO of the Berkshire Company, joins me to discuss the future of the Universal Service Obligation in the USA… and much more:
- USPS postal rate reform
- Pricing for letters (indexing)
- Non-controllable expenses – including pension payments
- What pension payments mean for pricing in practice
- Delivery density and its relevance to pricing
- Cluster boxes
- Why everything has to be resolved by litigation in the USA
- Lack of legislative framework for the postal sector
- Delivery standards during the USA elections
- Defining the universal service obligation (USO)
- Costing the USO
- Ensuring all users of the mail are considered when formulating a USO
- A Presidential Commission?
- The digitally excluded
- Regulation and monitoring USO compliance
- Parcels and the USO
- The postal service and e-commerce
- Catalogue distribution and online sales
- Sunday delivery (parcels)
- Amazon volumes for Sunday delivery
- What’s next for the USPS?
- Postal reform legislation in the new Congress
- Continuing impact of COVID-19
Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner North America at Last Mile Experts, joins me to discuss recent developments in e-commerce returns from Walmart, FedEx, Amazon, and more:
- Walmart allowing customers to return online purchases without leaving the home
- Walmart’s partnership with FedEx - including returns
- Who is paying for free collection? It’s not the customer!
- FedEx looking for delivery density
- Availability of FedEx Small Parcel Pickup service: metro vs rural areas
- What will the US Postal Service do?
- Retailers telling e-commerce customers to not bother returning purchases
- Value threshold for returns
- Using third parties to manage returns
- Customer expectations on returns
- Processing of returns - including reselling, repackaging, and the tertiary market
- Is Walmart pushing Amazon to raise the bar further?
- What USPS and UPS are doing in returns - especially with regard to Amazon
- Amazon Hub lockers and returns
- Environmental aspects of e-commerce returns
Jonathan Reeve, General Manager APAC at Eagle Eye, joins me to talk about e-commerce, subscription models, and the role of delivery companies:
- The origins of subscription services, e.g. milk and newspapers
- What make a good subscription service?
- Building customer loyalty
- Recycling packaging
- Benefits to the customer of Amazon Prime
- Variations of Amazon Prime, including Wardrobe
- Competing subscription programmes, such as Walmart +
- Is it a mistake to try to compete with Amazon?
- E-commerce retailers managing digital connection with customers
- The digital initiative behind Amazon establishing a retail footprint
- Is click-and-collect (BOPIS) forcing retailers to get more information about their customers?
- Food retail chain Pret a Manger’s subscription model
- What will subscription programmes mean for customer purchasing and delivery behaviour?
- Trends in grocery delivery – including same-day and next-day
- How delivery companies can position themselves to be the delivery partner for subscription services
Marek Różycki and Dean Maciuba from Last Mile Experts join me to pore over some of the big delivery issues in 2020 and what lies ahead in 2021:
- Increased operating costs due to COVID countermeasures
- Residential delivery stops - drivers doing over 250 deliveries per day
- Amazon’s own capacity for residential deliveries (USA)
- Training for delivery drivers
- B2B packages delivered to business addresses
- Creating capacity in the last mile and the availability of vehicles
- Are delivery companies worried about late deliveries?
- Throttling volumes (refusing volumes from customers)
- Technology (including interactive delivery management - IDM) and its importance to managing last mile capacity
- Incentives to customers to choose out-of-home delivery options, including PUDOs (access points)
- Residential delivery surcharges
- Will merchants pass on delivery savings to the consumer?
- Subscription models’ reliance on out-of-home delivery
- Speed of delivery and alternatives to residential delivery
- Retailers following Amazon in developing last mile capability
- Alibaba delivering worldwide within 72 hours - and the environment
- Amazon’s commitment to the last mile in the USA and around the world
- Bricks-and-mortar retail and omnichannel
- Click-and-collect (BOPIS) at Walmart and other retailers
- Allocating retail floorspace to in-store fulfilment, click-and-collect or drive-thru options
- E-commerce killing bad retail experiences
- Small retailers leveraging delivery to become an omnichannel retailer
- e-grocery’s growth in 2020 - and can it be made profitable?
- Security of online grocery deliveries
- Amazon and pharmaceuticals
- UPS, FedEx and home healthcare
- And finally… who said drones are stupid?
The USPS Office of Inspector General has published research into Generation Z and the mail. Dr Joanna Wu Gerhardt researcher at USPS OIG and one of the co-authors of the report “Generation Z and the mail”, joins me to discuss some of the key findings from the report:
- Defining Generation Z
- Do Gen Z digital natives know anything about the postal service?
- Kinds of mail Gen Z receives and sends
- Communications preferences across digital and physical media
- Parents, Generation Z, and visiting the post office
- Strategies for engaging with Gen Z
- Advertising mail and marketing mail
- Promoting parcel / package delivery to Gen Z - including augmented reality
- Technology and valuing relationships
Tom Day, Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Financial Officer at the International Post Corporation (IPC), joins me to discuss reducing emissions in the postal sector:
- Six key aims for SMMS
- Recyclable packaging products sold by postal operators
- Reusable packaging products
- The impact of 2020 on posts’ emissions reduction strategies
- Workload for letter delivery compared to parcel delivery
- Strategies postal operators are using to reduce last mile emissions
- Electric vehicles and the source of electricity (renewable vs fossil fuel)
- Life cycle analysis and the goal of reducing or eliminating carbon emissions
- Rooftop solar panels and powering the post’s processing cycle during the night
- Return on investment for renewables
- Savings that can be driven by building inspections and proper building maintenance
- Monitoring partner emissions (e.g. subcontractor drivers and franchised post offices)
- Suppliers reporting emissions - and customer expectations of posts to report emissions
- Government and customer pressure to reduce last mile emissions
- The urgency of reducing emissions (compared to far-off carbon reduction targets)
Brexit and the STOP Act are almost upon us! These two events will reshape global cross-border e-commerce. Martyn Noble and David Spottiswood, co-founders of Hurricane Modular Commerce join me to discuss:
- The countdown to Brexit - implications for countries inside and outside the EU
- Is it too late to start planning for post-Brexit cross-border trade?
- Data and customs
- Why Brexit is a global problem, not just an EU problem
- The need for quality data
- Implications for posts if they’re not ready for Brexit and STOP Act - along with the challenges of ICS2 and VAT changes
- Growth in cross-border volumes being carried by posts
- What will happen to US-bound parcels without complete data (EAD/AED)? Will 700m parcels be returned? Who will pay? What about the environment?
- Logistics networks designed to move parcels, not store parcels
- Implications for air cargo capacity
- Sweden’s imposition of VAT on inbound e-commerce shipments - and implications for collecting taxes and return of unclaimed parcels
- Showing duties and taxes in e-commerce shopping cart - price transparency of fully landed cost
- Avoiding the doorstep surprise
- Demand outstripping capacity in air cargo
- What postal operators have to do to get cross-border right, including:
- Missing incomplete data (including HS6 codes), and vague descriptions
- Shipper and consignee data
- Valuation of contents
- Prohibited and restricted goods, denied parties, and countries of origin
- Opportunities for postal operators who get cross-border right - in both B2B and B2C
- Reducing unit costs and growing profitability
- Postal operators partnering with private carriers for cross-border shipments
- Checking data and avoiding data leakage
- C2C parcels: the final frontier!
- Marketplace platforms and cross-border opportunities
What’s the future for Royal Mail’s Universal Service Obligation (USO)? It’s not just about letters! Tim Harrison, Senior Policy Researcher at Citizens Advice, joins me to discuss:
- Role of Citizens Advice as a consumer advocate
- Royal Mail’s USO for letter delivery and parcel delivery
- Comparison with letter delivery obligations in other countries
- Royal Mail exceeding regulatory obligations for parcel delivery
- Remote surcharges of up to 51% - and the definition of remote in the UK
- Which delivery companies deliver to remote parts of the UK?
- Digitally excluded customers and how they interact with the post office and letters network
- The 5.3 million digitally excluded people in the UK
- Quality of the letters service
- Reliability of parcel delivery
- Penalties on consumers for using the mail
- The consequences for consumers who can’t access the mail
- Why some people in the UK are unable to reliably and regularly access their letters
- How to give vulnerable people access to the mail
- Making pricing of mail and mail-related services (such as redirections) affordable for everyone
- The role of Ofcom (the UK regulator)
AED/EAD is a hot topic in international postal circles right now! Kate Muth, Executive Director at IMAG (International Mailers Advisory Group), shares an update on sharing advance electronic data for cross-border parcels - and compliance with the USA’s STOP Act:
- Background to the STOP Act
- Movement of illicit narcotics through the international postal system
- AED (or EAD) to help customs authorities
- Timelines for providing AED
- Will all countries meet 100% AED provision?
- The OIG’s research into AED compliance
- China’s progress in providing AED
- Exemptions and waivers
- Untracked items
- Remediation for international items without AED
- Rules for dealing with non-compliant items
- US capacity to store inbound international items, impact on quality of service and cost
- Will non-compliant parcels be destroyed?
- Collecting data at the post office counter
- Who pays for what?
- Truthfulness of customs declarations
- Other countries demanding inbound article data
- Harmonisation codes
- Is the data helping authorities find illicit substances in the mail?
- The importance of sharing data for cross-border parcels
Josh Dinneen, Chief Commercial Officer at LaserShip, joins me to discuss research into shopping trends during the pandemic - and what all that means for the delivery sector:
- Older generations embracing ecommerce
- Indicators for continued strength in parcel volumes
- Retailers going bankrupt and store closures during the pandemic, compared to online fulfilment
- Customer preferences and behaviours relating to shipping costs
- Free shipping: is it now a basic requirement?
- Is free delivery incompatible with fast delivery?
- Customer expectations on speed by generation
- How retailers can differentiate their delivery options
- Delivery satisfaction
- Delivery’s role in retaining customers
- What customers want from the delivery experience
- B2C delivery preferences - including time windows
- Virtual proof of delivery
- Predictions for peak season - including retailers bringing sales forward to make it an elongated peak
- Post-Christmas sales
Khaled Naim, co-founder and CEO of Onfleet, joins me to discuss the modern customer experience in delivery:
- The importance of the e-commerce shopper’s customer experience
- How Amazon is raising customer expectations in delivery
- Three ways to optimise customer delivery experience
- The role drivers can play in enhancing the customer experience
- Real-time customer support
- Customer demands for same-day delivery
- Can retailers offer a high standard of customer delivery experience?
- Route optimisation
- Reducing failed first-time delivery attempts
- Communications with the parcel recipient
- Developments in e-commerce stimulated by the pandemic
- Changes to consumer ordering habits
- The need for speed
- Creative solutions to the capacity crunch
- Contactless delivery
Parcel locker evangelist and bpost VP Locker Boost Catherine De Baets joins me to talk about bpost’s Ecozone project to go emission-free in the last mile:
- bpost parcel locker boost programme
- Background to the Ecozone in the Belgian city of Mechelen - and working towards being completely emission-free
- Combining a dense locker network with electric vehicles
- Cooperating with local retailers
- Creating mini-hubs
- What “lean lockers” are
- Creating a flexible parcel locker network
- The “Four-S” model for determining locker locations
- Physical parcel pick-up points (post offices and PUDOs) in the Ecozone
- Promoting parcel lockers to locals in Mechelen
- Customer delivery preferences
- Next stages of the Ecozone delivery concept
- Reducing risk of customers using their car to collect parcels from lockers
- bpost personnel involvement
Lee Spratt, CEO of DHL eCommerce Solutions Americas, joins me to talk about preparations for peak season 2020:
- Events that usually kick off peak season
- Bringing forward peak planning
- Parcel volumes during 2020 that have exceeded peak 2019
- Asking e-commerce retailers to forecast and manage volumes
- Working with last mile partners (including work share arrangements with US Postal Service)
- Balancing peak loads in the last mile
- Hiring surge for 2020 peak season
- Where temporary staff will go
- Additional space to accommodate extra volumes
- Post-peak plans for additional sites
- Changes in consumer behaviour bringing purchases forward
- Employee safety and changes in procedures
- Having a multi-carrier delivery strategy
- Artificial intelligence and using data to be more efficient
Alexander Haneng, Director for Digital Innovation at Posten Norge / Bring, joins me to talk about delivery innovation in Norway:
- Background to the partnership with supermarket chain Coop
- Penetration of online groceries and home delivery
- Building a home delivery solution very quickly and integrating it into Posten’s delivery network
- How the system works in practice, including picking orders, packaging, and choosing the right delivery network
- Keeping orders cool while out for delivery
- Same-day and next-day delivery of groceries
- Mapping the supermarket network and Posten’s delivery network to come up with efficient routing
- Parcel lockers and parcel delivery preferences in Norway
- Key considerations when choosing parcel locker locations
- Promoting delivery options to online shoppers
- Contactless delivery via lockers and easy access
- Posten Norge’s Amoi marketplace in Oslo
- Same-day local delivery for small retailers
- Innovating to find new revenue sources - especially as letter volumes fall
- Posten’s digital letter - and a crafty way to test customer acceptance!
- Collecting parcels from customers’ letter boxes
Here’s the link to register for Parcel+Post Expo: parcelandpostvirtuallive.com
Marek Różycki and I will be online at 2pm (European time) on Thursday 15 October - make sure you add our workshop to your calendar!
How did the US Postal Service become a political football? And what happens next? Analysis from John Callan of Ursa Major Associates:
- Pre-paying pension obligations
- No governors on the US Postal Service board
- 2018 taskforce report and hints at privatisation
- President Trump and Amazon - and Jeff Bezos
- The USA’s stoush with the UPU over terminal dues
- Megan Brennan’s retirement as USPS Postmaster General - did she jump or was she pushed?
- The make-up of the US Postal Service board of governors
- Relief funding for the US Postal Service during the pandemic (CARES Act) and the terms of that “loan”
- President Trump’s pressure on the USPS to increase parcel rates
- The influence of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
- Parcel volumes, revenues and margins… and the revelation that Amazon is a profitable parcel for the US Postal Service!
- Appointment of the new Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy:
- The executive search agency’s shortlist
- How DeJoy’s name was put to the USPS Board
- DeJoy’s background in logistics
- USPS Governor David Williams’ resignation
- The USPS executive reorganisation
- Trucks leaving on time! And reducing overtime payments to employees.
- Eliminating street posting boxes
- Lack of clear communication from the USPS on changes to delivery
- DeJoy’s management style
- Consultation and the decision-making process
- Congressional hearings
- Failure of Congress to deliver reform
- Postal ballots / voting by mail
- Will DeJoy continue in the face of this political furore?
- After all the political fighting is over, what happens next? Will any of these politicians carrying on about the USPS be able to address the core issues affecting the USPS?
- Privatisation of the US Postal Service (through work sharing, or outsourcing)
- If DeJoy resigns or is forced out, who would take over?
- And in closing… gopost (the USPS parcel locker network) and the concept of a carrier-agnostic universal parcel locker service (refer episode 208)
Chris Wong, General Manager Business Marketing NZ Post, joins me to talk about shopping behaviour and parcel volumes during the pandemic:
- Key events that stimulated surges in e-commerce parcel volumes
- The impact of lockdown (and the closure of businesses) on parcel volumes
- New online shoppers and established online shoppers - and what will be the effects on customer behaviour
- Online as a share of total retail spend in New Zealand
- Retail categories that accelerated during and post-lockdown
- Increases in weekly spend in online groceries
- How clothing and electronics performed - and what drove those changes
- Surge in buying locally during 2020
- Major players in NZ e-commerce, including marketplaces, pureplay online retailers, and omnichannel retailers … and the group that grew the most during the lockdown
- NZ Post delivery initiatives to cope with the pandemic, including contactless delivery, distancing requirements, and clarity on tracking and notifications services
- Investments in NZ Post’s parcel and delivery network to increase network capacity
- Balancing the load across parcel processing network
Download NZ Post’s e-commerce research from The Full Download.
Wayne Haubner, Escher Chief Technology Officer, and Ken Peterson, President, Customer Experience, QuestionPro, go in-depth on the future of contactless delivery and customer self-service:
- Impact of the pandemic on contactless delivery
- Pre-pandemic trends in self-service, such as parcel lockers and self-service terminals, as well as online
- Easy wins for postal operators to offer contactless deliveries
- Cost-effective customer-centric delivery tools
- Self-serve kiosks - and reimagining what a self-service kiosk looks like
- Reducing customer contact in payment
- Accessibility of self-service options, for acceptance and drop-off of parcels
- Will customers adopt contactless or self-service delivery experiences?
- Physical signatures for delivery acceptance - what will the future hold?
- Future identity verification systems - including digital ID
- Proving a customer’s identity when collecting from a parcel locker
- Delivery of alcohol, drugs, and high value items
- The customer delivery experience
- Increasing convenience without increasing cost while improving customer experience
- Special trips to special locations are a thing of the past - and this might have implications for the post office network
- What the data tells us for parcel delivery and customer touch points
- Recognising customer preferences
- Immediate, authentic customer feedback
- Overcoming cultural resistance to real-time engagement with customers
- Working from home - implications for delivery (first mile and last mile)
Dean Maciuba, Director Consulting Services at Logistics Trends & Insights, joins me to discuss the universal parcel locker concept:
- Defining a Universal Parcel Locker (UPL) network
- Managing the physical network
- Parcels from different carriers and merchants
- Post-pandemic parcel volumes - implications for a UPL network
- Current parcel locker networks in the USA
- Access points (PUDOs) being set up in lieu of parcel lockers
- Contactless delivery and PUDOs/lockers
- Cost of lockers used by FedEx and UPS in the USA
- The race to reduce delivery costs (in part driven by Amazon)
- What sort of locker solution might the US Postal Service
- The US Postal Service’s existing parcel locker network - called GoPost
- The USPS hosting a carrier-agnostic Universal Parcel Locker network
- Existing Parcel Select service
- Would carriers and e-commerce merchants pay the USPS to deliver to parcel lockers?
- Co-locating parcel lockers near a post office
- How postal operators can use parcel lockers
- Locations of USPS post offices
- Driving revenue and foot traffic at post offices
- Parcel surcharges for peak season (USPS, FedEx, UPS) - including volume-based surcharges
- Hiring surge in the US delivery sector
- Who will cover costs of parcel surcharges?
- What a Universal Parcel Locker network might mean for parcel costs in the USA
- Added bonus: Ian solves the peak season problem for the USA
Online retail strategist Tim Davies joins me to talk about eBay Plus – the service offering Australian eBay shoppers express delivery on their orders:
- Overview of the Australian e-commerce network, including leading marketplaces
- Why big retailers sell on eBay.com.au
- Size of eBay’s Australian market (hint: it’s big)
- eBay Plus loyalty programme
- Express delivery (to selected areas)
- Free returns
- The profile of eBay sellers participating in eBay Plus
- New sales vs used or collectibles on eBay
- The eBay deal with Australia Post-owned Fulfilio
- Coles supermarket selling on eBay (and is part of eBay Plus)
- eBay and click-and-collect
- Collecting eBay purchases via Woolworths supermarkets and other retail shops
- Parcel Point
- Larger retailers can offer click-and-collect at their own stores
Cathy Morrow Roberson (Logistics Trends & Insights) joins me to discuss Amazon and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF):
- Amazon’s announcement about SAF
- What’s the rest of the air cargo sector doing?
- Retiring older fleets and using more fuel-efficient aircraft
- Reducing overall carbon emissions
- Amazon going for net zero carbon
- Groundside emissions
Also in this episode:
- Delta Cargo and its pledge to become the world’s first carbon neutral airline
- EU initiative to boost take-up of SAFs
- How soon will we see electric or alternate-powered aircraft?
Melissa Obeid, founder of sustainable luxury beauty brand La Fervance, joins me to discuss brand values, the supply chain, and the last mile. We cover:
- What sustainability means for a brand
- COSMOS certification
- Building sustainability into a brand’s DNA
- Packaging - including minimisation of plastic usage
- Minimising the carbon footprint in the supply chain
- Quality
- What happens to packaging after the consumer has used the product
- Refillable packaging
- Choosing the right logistics and delivery partners
- Carbon neutral delivery and green delivery options
- Growth in direct-to-consumer e-commerce
- Unboxing and its environmental consequences
- Size of parcels (with packaging) and the impact on the number of parcels that can fit in a delivery vehicle
Kathy Sivitier, assistant executive director of the National Association of Presort Mailers, on public-private partnerships and the future of the mail. We cover:
- Role of mail service providers in the US Postal Service mail system
- What the Intelligent Barcode does
- Co-mingling and aggregation of mail
- Broader applications for public-private partnerships
- Filling up half-empty trucks
- The future of mail
- Pricing (and impact on demand)
- Quality of service
- ...and much more
Kate Muth, executive director of the International Mailers Advisory Group (IMAG), joins me to talk about changes to international postal charges following the reforms passed in the UPU last year. We cover:
- Reform of the UPU terminal dues system
- Self-declaring rates
- Countries other than the USA changing international rates
- Practical impact of rates changes
- Differences between contract rates and retail rates
- Outbound international and inbound international rates
- Fixing distortions in inbound pricing
- Air capacity for international shipments
- Domestic express shipments and internal air cargo capacity
- Surface alternatives to cross-border air shipments
Kit Ahweyevu, founder and CEO of Mindweaver, on building diverse teams and how diversity fuels innovation:
- The hallmarks of true innovation
- Creating space for ideas
- Testing and exploring new ideas
- Formulating and implementing diversity policies
- Moving away from box-ticking
- Diversity as part of strategy, innovation, productivity and profitability
- Understanding the customer base to build mass market products and services
- Why diversity and inclusion are two different things
- Neurodiversity
- Delivery companies gaining an advantage in technology
Visit Mindweaver’s website or LinkedIn page for more.
Bertrand Späth, co-founder of active tracking provider Kizy Tracking, discusses creating a modern tracking solution and enhancing the customer experience:
- Creating best-in-class customer tracking
- Transparency in cross-border shipping
- Customer expectations - especially younger digital natives' expectations
- Current problems with parcel tracking, including:
- Visibility
- Quality of data
- Passive barcode scanning systems
- Missing scans
- Creating a great customer experience with parcel tracking
- Active tracking
- Kizy's active tracking solution for letters and parcels
- Affordable active tracking
- Weight and quality of service
- Cross-border shipments
- Security of parcels - even when being handled by partner networks
- Reusable technology
- Case study on how active tracking helped clear international bottlenecks
- Theft detection
- Measuring delivery network performance
- The future of tracking
- Need for transparency
- Global services
- 5G and other tech advances
- Managing tracking data
- Active tracking enhancing delivery services
Visit kizytracking.com for more information.
Marek Ròżycki, managing partner at Last Mile Experts - and one half of the Last Mile Prophets - joins me to talk about how city centres are changing during the pandemic:
- Cities closing off lanes and parking zones
- Creation of bicycle lanes and pedestrian zones
- Role of electric vehicles in city centre delivery
- Out-of-home delivery, including parcel lockers
- Local authorities’ role in creating carrier-agnostic delivery infrastructure
- Maintaining capacity for growing e-commerce parcel volumes
- The war on white vans
Then James Hale, manager of the postal social services project at the UPU, talks about how postal operators have been helping local communities around the world:
- Background to the project
- Researching social services offered by various postal operators - in addition to their core services
- Separating additional social services from existing universal (or community) service obligations
- What posts have done to help governments and populations to help respond to the pandemic
- Benchmarking to help posts offer social services
- Three case studies:
- An Post - new home-checking service
- La Poste - helping delivery and collect educational materials
- Australia Post - home delivery of medicines
Click here for more information about these three case studies on the UPU website.
Visit the project’s page on the UPU website.
John Acton, managing partner at DPI Europe, discusses overcoming the seven deadly corporate mindsets to stimulate innovation in corporations. We cover:
- Content vs critical thinking consultancy
- Bureaucracies smothering creative thinking in a big organisation
- What is a deadly mindset? And how does it relate to innovation?
- Stripping away barriers to innovation
- Breaking out of cycles
- The problems of “processes”
- Power struggles and internal politics
- How companies can disrupt themselves
- Priorities and knee-jerk responses
- Table-thumping!
- The budget battlefield
- How start-ups can punish big corporates (like postal operators) for failure to innovate
- The bonus system and linking reward to innovation
- Generating ideas
- Growth is underpinned by innovation, which is underpinned by creative thinking
Author, podcast host, and host of the eCommerce MasterPlan podcast Chloë Thomas returns to talk about e-commerce delivery from a retailer and customer perspective. We cover:
- Speed vs cost vs green
- Giving customers what they want… and paying for it!
- Changing consumer expectations thanks to That Virus
- Will customers still want fast delivery? Or will it depend on the product category?
- Customers switching to online purchasing - and post-pandemic buying habits
- Consumer backlash - customer service at e-commerce retailers being overwhelmed by complaints (which are often delivery-related)
- Communicating with customers and using interactive delivery management (IDM) to allow customers to manage their deliveries
- Best practice in in-flight communications
- Pro-active post-purchase communications with customers
- Reducing customer complaints
- Reducing returns
- Do retailers think they have to compete with Amazon?
- Retailers’ awareness of the environmental impact of e-commerce delivery - including packaging and returns
- Consolidating e-commerce deliveries (e.g. Amazon Day)
- Green delivery slots - and nudge behaviour
- Alternative delivery modes (e.g. parcel lockers, deliver to neighbour, safe place)
- Dealing with returns
- How the pandemic is changing e-commerce returns
- Chlöe’s bold predictions for the future of e-commerce!
Amazon is using its B2C infrastructure to quietly dominate in B2B. Joining me to discuss this is Dean Maciuba, Director Consulting Services at Logistics Trends & Insights. We cover:
- Amazon Business - the dominant marketplace in the USA?
- How Amazon leverages its existing network of fulfilment centres
- Fulfilment costs
- SKU range
- Amazon’s Delivery Service Partners - and shipping costs
- Multi-piece deliveries
- How much of Amazon DSPs’ volumes consists of B2B shipments
- Amazon parcel volumes directed to DSPs - and which carriers are missing out
- Impact of Amazon’s presence in B2B on FedEx and UPS
- Can anyone compete with Amazon in B2B?
- Importance of the sales force
- Amazon’s analytical prowess
- Could Amazon Business expand into other markets?
Rebecca Hall, founder and director of fleet management, compliance and driver safety tool HH Driveright and courier firm JMHC, joins me to discuss modern fleet management - especially in the age of COVID-19:
- How JMHC started out as a single van and grew to a national fleet of 500 vehicles
- The importance of fleet management, including safety
- The fleet management response to COVID-19, including:
- Vehicle servicing and repairs
- Sourcing backup vehicles
- In-house vehicle maintenance
- Causes of road accidents during the pandemic
- Road congestion and vehicle speed
- Coaching good driving behaviour
- Using HH Driveright to check drivers are right to work
- Monitoring vehicle defects
- Managing fleet accidents remotely - and quickly
- Employee drivers and owner/drivers in the same fleet
- Vehicle theft - causes and prevention
- Regulation of the light vehicle fleet
- Standard of vehicle - driven by the customer
- Being a professional driver… not just someone who drives a van
- Driver response to this style of fleet management
- Retaining drivers
- Owner/drivers and the grey fleet
Click here to visit the HH Driveright website for more information about modern fleet management.
Sandra Bonfigli, from the Procurement Unit of the UPU Development Cooperation Directorate, outlines how the UPU is distributing key safety equipment for postal workers in least development countries:
- The role of the UPU in responding to natural disasters
- Distributing personal protection kits to various countries
- How the UPU partnered with another UN agency to overcome difficulties such as airport closures and air cargo shortages
Then Paul Steidler from the Lexington Institute joins me to discuss the Universal Service Obligation (USO) in the USA:
- Current obligations on the US Postal Service
- How USOs are defined (or not defined!) in the USA
- Defining a letter
- Frequency of delivery
- Could parcels become part of the USO?
- Pharmaceutical deliveries
- Is there political will to reach a compromise?
- Postal reform and losses in the letters service
- Regulatory relief in other countries
- Political barriers to reform or regulatory relief
- Viability of the letters service
- The possibility of reducing the number of delivery days per week
- Pricing
- The post office network
Cathy Morrow Roberson, founder and lead analyst at Logistics Trends & Insights, joins me to discuss the air cargo capacity crunch and modal shift:
- Reduced numbers of flights
- Essential vs non-essential cargo during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Repurposed passenger aircraft carrying cargo
- Moving air cargo to rail
- Rail’s advantages over air and sea (ocean) cargo
- Mail trains running from China to Europe
- Direct-to-consumer shipping from China
- Speed of long-distance shipping
- Will air cargo volumes recover post-coronavirus?
- A recession and the impact on air capacity
- Creative solutions - including Ukrposhta’s charter flight
- Multi-modal transport
- Domestic air cargo alternatives
- Impact on Amazon Prime’s delivery promise
- Meeting fast delivery demands without using aircraft
- Inland ports / hubs
- Rail congestion in the USA
Dean Maciuba, Director Consulting Services at Logistics Trends & Insights, joins me to discuss how home delivery fits in with the e-commerce value proposition:
- UPS and FedEx’s growing network of access points (PUDOs)
- How UPS and FedEx are using those access points for residential deliveries, including redirections of failed first-time deliveries
- Pressures on delivery drivers
- Residential delivery: what the customer wants
- Customer choice in delivery
- Multiple home delivery attempts
- Porch piracy
- Price pressure on residential delivery, promoting PUDO delivery but being absorbed by e-commerce sellers
- Amazon, home delivery, and losses in delivery
- Rural delivery fees
- Parcel lockers in the USA
- Putting the customer in control of their deliveries (interactive delivery management - IDM)
- Amazon’s parcel locker network - including direct delivery to parcel lockers
- Amazon’s focus on e-commerce delivery: the customer!
- How Amazon delivers in the last mile
- Amazon volumes going through UPS, FedEx, and the US Postal Service
- Reducing cost in the last mile
Dean Maciuba, Director Consulting Services at Logistics Trends & Insights, joins me to discuss how home delivery fits in with the e-commerce value proposition:
- UPS and FedEx’s growing network of access points (PUDOs)
- How UPS and FedEx are using those access points for residential deliveries, including redirections of failed first-time deliveries
- Pressures on delivery drivers
- Residential delivery: what the customer wants
- Customer choice in delivery
- Multiple home delivery attempts
- Porch piracy
- Price pressure on residential delivery, promoting PUDO delivery but being absorbed by e-commerce sellers
- Amazon, home delivery, and losses in delivery
- Rural delivery fees
- Parcel lockers in the USA
- Putting the customer in control of their deliveries (interactive delivery management - IDM)
- Amazon’s parcel locker network - including direct delivery to parcel lockers
- Amazon’s focus on e-commerce delivery: the customer!
- How Amazon delivers in the last mile
- Amazon volumes going through UPS, FedEx, and the US Postal Service
- Reducing cost in the last mile
Mike Darchambeau, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at last-mile technology company Urbantz, joins me to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the e-commerce last mile:
- The sudden boom in e-commerce - including grocery delivery
- E-commerce merchants are capitalising on the boom
- Creativity in the last mile to cope with the drastic growth
- Enabling local e-commerce
- Increasing capacity in response to a surge in orders
- Longer wait times for deliveries
- Delivery windows filling
- How to deliver faster
- Warehouses and personnel (including drivers)
- Automation and scaling up operations
- Coping with staff shortages
- Fast on-boarding of new drivers
- How Urbantz helped Red Cross France with the rapid expansion of its COVID-19 home delivery service
- Carrefour innovating to serve customers who aren’t tech-savvy
- Contactless delivery options for residential delivery
- Balancing loads across networks
- Route optimisation
- Communicating with the customer during delivery (interactive delivery management) and the customer experience
- Real time notifications and the impact on reducing calls to customer support
- Preparing for the post-COVID19 world
- The importance of agility
- Technology to serve the market
- The risk of putting projects on hold
- Will new e-commerce customers stick with e-commerce after the COVID-19 threat recedes?
- Fast delivery and green delivery trends
- Changes to the supply chain, including local fulfilment
Click here to visit the Urbantz website.
Kevin Seller, VP Sales EMEA at Escher, on applications for artificial intelligence in the postal sector:
- The basic principles of artificial intelligence and machine learning
- Some current non-postal applications for AI
- Optimising operation and performance of retail stores and improving the customer experience
- Harnessing the huge amount of data available in the business
- Making an optimum post office network
- Why would a post want to invest in AI?
- Managing and analysing staffing patterns
- How does a postal operator get started with AI?
- Build vs buy in AI solutions
- Strategy
- Competition for talent
- Collect and clean data
- Develop algorithms
- Testing
- Timeframes and cost
- Some potential outcomes of implementing AI across the postal network
- Transforming and being competitive - and driving efficiencies
- Scalability of AI solutions
Click here to visit the Escher Group website.
Mark Fallon, President and CEO at the Berkshire Company, joins me to talk about how the US Postal Service is helping bridge the digital-physical divide in delivery:
- How Informed Delivery works
- National census - a digital experience
- Sending the US census, and the role of the postal service
- Informed Delivery’s role in the process
- The ultimate omni-channel marketing campaign
- Conducting elections by mail
- The role of the mail in election campaigns when person-to-person contact and large gatherings are restricted
- Unboxing videos, upselling opportunities, and the future of Informed Delivery
Ben Stickle, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Middle Tennessee State University, joins me to discuss recent research he led into the porch piracy phenomenon:
- Background to research into porch piracy
- Reporting e-commerce parcel theft
- Definition of porch piracy - the theft of parcels delivered to private property
- Distinguishing porch piracy from mail theft
- Who is stealing parcels? Is it organised or opportunistic?
- How package thefts are being committed, including times when thefts occur
- Prevention methods that residents can put in place (including concealment and removing the target)
- Environmental criminology
- Target hardening - making committing the crime difficult
- Risk vs reward
- A police perspective on porch piracy
- Future research
Visit Ben Stickle’s website.
Download the full porch piracy report.
Ralf Garlichs, Chief Operations Officer at Siemens Logistics, joins me to discuss the automated future of parcel processing:
- Processing varying parcel formats
- Speed and complexity
- Removing the need for manual handling
- A brief history of automation in logistics
- Labour shortage implications for logistics
- Three factors driving advances in automation: labour, volume growth, and the battle for services
- Data analytics role in improving efficiency
- Step-by-step progress towards a “touchless hub” - from unloading trucks through to sorting
- The automation technology already available today - including robots in hubs
- Automation in the core of sorting centres
- Who can benefit from logistics automation?
Jean-Philippe Ducasse from the USPS Office of Inspector General discusses recent OIG research into the US same-day delivery market:
- Can anyone make money on same-day delivery?
- Same-day delivery market size, including what kind of goods are being shipped
- The major players in US same-day delivery, and the different operating models
- Typical customer profile for same-day delivery
- Why customers buy with same-day delivery
- Are customers prepared to pay for same-day delivery? If so, how much?
- The cost and revenue for same-day delivery
- What the US Postal Service is doing in same-day delivery
- The potential for public-private partnerships for fast delivery
- The USPS’s strength in next-day delivery
- Buy online pick-up in-store (same-day)
Igor Smelyanksy, CEO at Ukrposhta (Ukraine Post) is my special guest. We cover:
- The main drivers for domestic e-commerce growth in Ukraine
- Staggering growth in inbound parcels - and the investments Ukrposhta has made to cope with the increasing volumes
- How Ukrposhta is helping local businesses to sell online, including social media and webcasts
- Streamlining induction of international outbound parcels
- VAT on inbound international parcels
- Postal banking
- The process for Ukrposhta setting up a postal bank
- How helping unbanked citizens set up bank accounts will stimulate commerce
- Distribution of pensions
- Regulatory and compliance hurdles
- Competing with or complementing existing banks
- Postal privatisation
- Political changes that have already enabled modernisation at Ukrposhta
- Ukrposhta’s plan to find a strategic investor to take a minority shareholding
- Maintaining social obligations - including offering sustainable mobile postal services to areas with dwindling populations, without seeking a government subsidy
- What privatisation means for employees
- Environmental initiatives
- Out-of-home parcel delivery vs residential delivery
Tim Harrison, Senior Policy Researcher at Citizens Advice and one of the authors of “The market which isn’t delivering”, joins me to discuss the failings and potential remedies in the UK e-commerce parcel delivery market:
- Where does the e-commerce parcel delivery experience begin?
- Unfair surcharging (for example, for delivery to remote addresses)
- Delivery information customers need when ordering online, including estimated delivery time
- Communicating consumer rights information
- Do customers need to know which delivery company will deliver their order?
- The main delivery problems UK consumers encounter
- Why isn’t the available technology being used to solve these delivery problems?
- Delivery for customers with disabilities
- Accessibility information for post offices and PUDOs
- The link between delivery quality and contractor payment
- Complaints handling
- Consumer experience with e-commerce returns
- Does the UK parcel industry need to be regulated?
Marek Różycki, Managing Partner at Last Mile Experts (and ex-Amazon VP Logistics EU) discusses FedEx’s travails and Amazon’s continuing expansion in the last mile:
- Has FedEx taken its eye off the ball in B2C delivery?
- B2B mindset in the e-commerce era
- Could FedEx pull back from the B2C segment?
- Why FedEx needs to change or run the risk of being broken up
- FedEx’s TNT acquisition
- DPD’s decision to go for B2C business - and the mindset change that move required
- Amazon’s willingness to invest and acquire… and should Amazon acquire FedEx?
- If not FedEx, would there be another carrier Amazon could acquire?
- Would other retailers (in particular those trying to compete with Amazon in delivery) be interested in acquiring a delivery company like FedEx?
- What would a privatised US Postal Service do?
David Spottiswood, co-founder of Hurricane Modular Commerce, and David Nelson, Vice President Sales (Americas) at Escher, join me to talk about improving the efficiency and customer experience of cross-border e-commerce:
- Estimating taxes and duties on goods moved via the post office
- Data collection for cross-border e-commerce
- Data leakage for parcels lodged over the counter
- Delays due to customs inspections
- The customer experience for cross-border e-commerce
- Prohibited and restricted items
- Screening denied and restricted parties
- Creating a central global database of denied and restricted parties
- Gathering sender and addressee data at the time of lodgement (in the post office)
- How changes in legislation have affected cross-border parcels
- Reducing the cost of returns
- What growth in cross-border e-commerce means for postal operators
- Risks in not paying duties and taxes
Catalin Maftei, founder and CEO of C-Solution, joins me to discuss an innovative approach to parcel lockers:
- How a payment solutions provider became a parcel delivery company
- The link between delivery failure and refunds
- How niche online businesses grow from marketplaces to becoming standalone e-commerce merchants
- How small business growth is powering Romanian e-commerce
- Cross-border e-commerce in the region
- How C-Solution set up a parcel locker network, including:
- Site selection
- Proximity
- Commercial vs residential lockers
- Temperature control considerations
- Indoors vs outdoors
- A unique parcel locker offering: lockers in a container!
- Usage rates for the new parcel lockers
- A carrier neutral (open) parcel locker network - even allowing merchants to directly deliver to the lockers
- Some innovations in click-and-collect
- Savings made by Decathlon by implementing in-store click-and-collect lockers
- Teleportation! How parcel lockers are used for instant fulfilment
- Selecting the right products for teleportation
- Parcel lockers in residential buildings
Cathy Morrow Roberson, Founder and Lead Analyst at Logistics Trends and Insights on 3D printing and the delivery sector:
- 3D printing finding its purpose in life
- Bringing the point of manufacture closer to the customer
- Manufacturing and distributing spare parts
- Delivery companies getting involved in 3D printing
- Impact on warehousing and delivery
- Reducing logistics costs
- Shrinking manufacturing lead times
- Cross-border distribution
- Same-day delivery
- Implications for the just-in-time supply chain
- Reducing inventory requirements
- Which sector will next be disrupted by 3D printing?
Alan Barrie, senior advisor for e-commerce and urban logistics at Transport for London, talks about how changes to delivery can improve air quality:
- Overview of the types of vehicles on London’s streets
- TfL’s responsibilities
- The effect of London’s congestion charge
- What the ULEZ (ultra low emission zone) means for the delivery sector
- Reducing emissions and improving efficiencies in the last mile
- Consumer-centric delivery solutions
- The UK’s fractured PUDO networks
- Parcel locker networks - open vs closed
- Merchants’ role in striving for the most sustainable delivery options
- Failed first-time residential deliveries - and the alternatives to home delivery
- Alternatively powered vehicles (including electric vehicles, bikes, cargo bikes)
- Micro delivery depots
- Courier safety in the last mile
- City logistics
- B2B deliveries
- Same-day delivery and its environmental impact
- Road safety
Lindiwe Kewele, Acting Group CEO at South African Post Office, discusses:
- Post office access in rural areas
- Social grant payment - and how SAPO delivers it
- Providing access to financial services
- Funding the USO and being self-sustainable
- Mobile postal services
- Migrating to non-cash payment alternatives, including mobile money
- Financial services for the elderly - including using biometrics to identify customers
- Future postal services
- Making delivery services more efficient and customer-centric
- Competition in parcels
- Stimulating cross-border e-commerce within the region
Also in this episode, I cover some recent developments in parcel delivery:
- Australia Post’s new partnership with Doddle (called Click & Return)
- How retail shops (PUDOs) will be added to the post office and parcel locker network
- How customers will interact with Click & Return at checkout
- Amazon’s new parcel locker and PUDO network
- A surprising choice for parcel locker locations
- Retailers partnering with Amazon to be PUDO points
- PostNL’s changes to procedures for failed first-time residential deliveries
Nick Manolis, CEO of Escher Group, is my guest. We discuss:
- The blurring line between delivery and the retail network
- Achieving better customer engagement in a postal context
- Helping posts win more parcel volumes through measuring customer satisfaction
- Taking real-time data collection and making it useful
- Replacing mystery shoppers and QR codes on receipts
- Cross-border duties and taxes
- Dealing with “denied parties” and restricted products
- Efficiency at the counter when processing international parcels
Also in this episode: how Canada Post is using pop-up PUDOs to add capacity during peak season.
Ben Nowlan, CEO of OmniCX and co-founder of delivery start-up Sherpa, joins me to talk about fast delivery:
- The background to setting up Sherpa’s fast delivery service
- Interactive delivery management from a consumer perspective and from a merchant/delivery perspective
- Communications between the delivery driver and the recipient
- Are companies not trying to be customer-centric?
- What’s the driver behind same-day delivery - customer demand or fear? Or is there a coherent strategy?
- How can same-day delivery be successful? Ben shares key strategic points for offering same-day delivery.
- Why carriers need to understand retailers
- Cart values and fast delivery
- Click and collect
- Do customers really want products within an hour?
- How product categories influence speed of delivery
- In-store fulfilment
- Data!
Escher CTO Wayne Haubner joins me to discuss applications for artificial intelligence in the postal and delivery sectors:
- The difference between AI and machine learning
- Where to source data (e.g. transaction data, tracking data, customer profiles)
- AI and loyalty programmes - and the impact on repeat sales
- Driving better customer engagement with AI
- Digital on-boarding - training for new staff
- How AI and big data can predict problems in the delivery network and post office network
- Making data available for analysis in real-time
- Predicting and recognising customer behaviour - even in-store!
- Using AI to support up-selling in parcel delivery
- Reducing fraud using AI
An Post CEO David McRedmond is my special guest this week, talking about the postal workforce:
- How sustainability relates to the concept of decent work
- What offering decent work means for the workforce and for customers
- The connection between the post and the community
- The flexibility of other work engagement models (such as the gig economy)
- The pressure and innovation springing from e-commerce
- The downsides of the gig economy on workers and society
- The value of postal employees
Then Dean Maciuba, Director Consulting Services at Logistics Trends & Insights joins me to discuss smaller warehouses located closer to population centres:
- Fulfilment centre location and speed of delivery
- If costs per square metre increase, will e-commerce delivery costs go up?
- Restocking fulfilment centres - the “middle mile”
- Will last mile costs be less if fulfilment centres are closer to the consumer?
- Size of the vehicle and implications for last mile costs
- Congestion, emissions, and noise
- Locations for urban fulfilment centres
- Growth in industrial rents - and the factors behind this growth
To kick off this episode, Marek Różycki (Last Mile Experts) and I discuss parcel hold times at parcel lockers. Then we get a bit carried away, covering:
- How long a parcel should be held at a parcel locker
- Refilling parcel lockers multiple times per day
- How to encourage customers to collect parcels faster
- Linking event management systems to customer rewards
I’m pleased to welcome back Ivan Čulo, CEO of Hrvatska pošta (Croatian Post) to talk about the new logistics centre and more:
- The scale of the new logistics centre
- Functions of the logistics centre - last mile and hub-and-spoke network
- Consolidating locations and freeing up cash for reinvestment
- The sale of Croatian Post’s pay-tv channel
- Growth in e-commerce parcel volumes and the need for capacity
- Productivity and competition in parcel delivery
- Speed and quality of delivery
- More customer-focused delivery services
- Cross-border parcels - including issues with small inbound cross-border parcels and VAT thresholds
In the wake of probably the most tumultuous week in the Universal Postal Union’s history, UPU Director General Bishar A. Hussein is my special guest. In this interview, we discuss:
- Background to the debate over the compensation system
- How discussions progressed over an extended period
- Resistance to attempts at reform
- Tensions between different countries at the negotiating table
- When countries can start “self-declaring” rates
- What would have happened if no compromise had been found
- The role of the UPU in the future and the need for the union to be fit for purpose
- Opening up UPU membership to private carriers
- How the UPU and the postal sector is more than just letters
- Reform that has already occurred within the UPU
- Reforms to the contribution system, pension fund system, the quorum system, and more
- Comparisons with the ITU and its membership
- Could we see Jeff Bezos at the UPU?
- The range of treaties that flow through the UPU relating to cross-border trade
This week is all about the USA. First of all, three announcements from the US Postal Service, then a look at the recent UPU Extraordinary Congress. John Callan, Managing Director of Ursa Major Associates, joins me for some extra commentary:
- USPS’s current parcel locker network
- Should the parcel lockers be carrier agnostic or carrier specific?
- A very big contract for delivery vehicles at the USPS
- The USPS and drones!
- (There’s a rant from me.)
- The UPU Extraordinary Congress
- What the USA will do next on Terminal Dues
- Media reaction in the USA
- How the USPS had been preparing for a possible UPU exit
- Will other carriers benefit if USPS outbound rates go up?
- Some other perspectives on the recent UPU discussions, including the debate’s domestic roots, counterfeiting, tensions between the USA and UN agencies, relations between the USA and China, FedEx, tariffs, the USA’s relationship with European nations
Doddle Chief Commercial Officer Mike Richmond joins me to discuss the reinvention of delivery:
- Why customers make the delivery choices they do - a behavioural science approach
- How “nudge” works - and what it could mean for e-commerce and delivery
- The manifesto for reinventing delivery!
- Improving co-ordination - can retailers work together to make sure the customer receives parcels when and where they want?
- How Nike preserves its brand while delivering online orders in a range of different ways
- Technology enabling customer-centric delivery solutions across retailers and delivery companies
- How PUDO footprints are growing, and new formats of PUDO (e.g. buy online… collect at the gym!)
- Harnessing data - analysing data to understand customer behaviour in delivery and returns
- Buy-now-pay-later and how payment impacts on delivery choice and returns
- Will payment businesses get into delivery?
- Rethinking metrics - judging the performance of logistics departments
- Preselected delivery options and the impact on customer choice - and therefore delivery cost!
- Positioning of click-and-collect in-store
- The value of omnichannel customers
- Parcel lockers complementing in-store click-and-collect
- Simplifying in-store returns
- Megatrends in PUDOs around the world - including Amazon Counter
- Carriers adding retailer partnerships to expand PUDO networks
Download A new perspective on delivery from the Doddle website.
Marek Różycki (Last Mile Experts) discusses carrier-specific and carrier-agnostic parcel lockers:
- What this means in terms of parcel volumes in the network
- Cost of setting up the network
Then Mark Fallon, CEO and President of the Berkshire Company, joins me to discuss letter pricing in the age of parcels:
- Australia Post’s application to increase the basic postage rate
- The forces driving costs in the letter delivery network
- Pricing for reserved/monopoly products vs parcels
- Limits on US Postal Service letter price increases
- Allegations of cross-subsidy between parcels and letters
- Postal pricing oversight by the Postal Regulatory Commission
- Annual parcel price increases for USPS and its major competitors
- A second rate increase in a calendar year?
- Strategies to cope with falling letter volumes:
- Reducing delivery days
- Slowing letter delivery speed
- Combining letter and parcel delivery
- Changing the delivery fleet
- Community mail boxes
- Reliability of the letters service
Marek Różycki (Last Mile Experts) discusses research on the out-of-home delivery market (parcel lockers and PUDOs) in Poland:
- Why the Polish out-of-home delivery market is important to understand
- What’s driving the push for delivery to parcel lockers and PUDO points
- Size of the various parcel locker networks in Poland compared to other European markets
- Carrier agnostic or carrier specific? Comparison of the various networks
- PUDO partnerships with retailers
- InPost’s operations in Poland and in other markets
- Store-based parcel lockers for click-and-collect purchases
- Returns via parcel lockers
Click here to sign up for the PUDO/parcel locker workshop.
Also in this episode, Derek Osborn joins me to preview our Social Media workshop at Parcel+Post Expo:
- The importance of top class social media engagement for the postal and delivery sectors
- Which platforms to use? How to engage with customers? What about the expectation of instant response?
Sign up for the Social Media workshop here.
Marek Różycki (Last Mile Experts) and I preview our seminar and workshop at Parcel+Post Expo this year, including:
- The advantage of being first PUDO or locker network
- What is holding back the development of some PUDO networks
Dean Maciuba, Director of Consulting Services at Logistics Trends & Insights, joins me to discuss the world of heavy parcel delivery, with a focus on FedEx Freight Direct:
- What is FedEx Freight Direct? What sort of vehicles are being used for delivery of heavy or bulky parcels?
- Size and weight limits compared to FedEx’s standard Ground and Express limits
- One person delivery or two person delivery?
- Premium delivery services
- What kind of consumer goods are being shipped?
- Competitors in this market
- What’s driving the need for residential delivery of heavy parcels or freight?
- Wayfair’s intentions in delivery… including its own logistics network
Marek Różycki joins me to preview our seminar and workshop at Parcel+Post Expo this year, including:
- Unattended delivery (in-car, in-home) vs out-of-home delivery
- Delivery density and the advantage of being first to market
- Customer experience in delivery
Cathy Morrow Roberson, founder and lead analyst at Logistics Trends & Insights, joins me to discuss UPS’s recently announced delivery initiatives:
- A quick overview of UPS’s Q2 results
- UPS Access Point (PUDO) network - new partnerships
- Partnering with pharmacy chains - UPS and FedEx
- Delivering to PUDO points instead of making residential delivery attempts
- Seven-day pick-up and delivery
- Working with the USPS - just for rural addresses?
- Using UPS’s own fleet
- Pricing, employees, and contracted delivery
- Evening deliveries
- Scheduled (time window) deliveries
- Drone delivery
- Medical deliveries
- Swiss Post and Matternet
- Why Cathy loves drones
- UPS’s air operations
- E-commerce volumes
- Revenue per package
- Is Amazon putting more volume into UPS’s network?
- Is Amazon a competitor? What makes it a threat?
Marek Różycki joins me to preview our seminar and workshop at Parcel+Post Expo this year, including:
- Defining the parcel locker
- Technology and lockers
Paul Donohoe, Manager Digital Economy & Trade Programme at the UPU, joins me to discuss the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA):
- What the TFA means for cross-border e-commerce
- What it means for postal operators
- How cross-border trade has been “parcelised” and what that means for border clearance
- What the UPU is doing to regarding the TFA
- Harmonisation and cost reduction in the postal channel
- Standardised forms (e.g. for customs)
- Electronic exchange of information (including CDS platform)
- EAD and the STOP Act
- The post as a trade enabling network
- The UPU’s study
Pieter Kunz, senior advisor at Escher and an experienced international postal executive, joins me to continue our discussion on the changing world of delivery:
- Striving to reduce costs while maintaining quality of service
- Speed and frequency of letter delivery
- Flexible delivery models
- Volume declines, automation, and head count
- Limitations on work hours, and part time work
- Combining letters with parcels for delivery
- Cases where it’s impossible or not necessary to combine letter and parcel delivery
- Delivery vehicles
- Increasing productivity in a large workforce
- Redeploying staff internally and outside the company - and union engagement
- Technology and productivity
- AI and machine learning
- Changing delivery speed
- Introducing new services while trying to reduce costs
- What do customers really want from a letter delivery service - certainty or price?
- Why the USO isn’t a barrier to developing new delivery solutions
Marek Różycki, Managing Partner at Last Mile Experts, joins me to discuss in-store parcel lockers and in-fridge grocery delivery:
- Click-and-collect and parcel lockers
- Location of lockers in-store or near-store
- Types of articles that can be collected
- The customer experience and putting the customer in control
- Returns via parcel lockers
- Additional purchases made by customers who click-and-collect in-store
- Walmart in-fridge grocery delivery
- Security provisions for in-house delivery, including body cams
- Building trust between a delivery company and customers
- In-garage delivery
- What has more potential: in-fridge delivery or drone delivery?
- Customer response to innovation and technology
- Insurance and unattended in-home delivery
- Marek’s prediction for drone delivery
Experienced international postal executive Pieter Kunz, senior adviser at Escher, covers change management in the postal and delivery sectors:
- How can posts cope with change?
- The conflicting needs of falling letter volumes and rising parcel volumes
- Developing new services taking into account the USO and the dynamic nature of the parcel delivery market
- Key talent for change management
- People who understand customer needs
- Network design
- Transforming customer needs into services
- Understanding needs
- Speed and frequency of delivery
- Technology as an enabler and disruptor of services
- Automation and sequencing
- Round sorting and network setup
- Pushback from unions to plans to reduce headcount
- Transparency and planning
- The need to act
- Technology in the last mile - including interacting with the recipient and optimising the last mile
- Digital transformation in the post office
- Franchising post office networks
- Digital cannibalisation of over-the-counter business
- Self-service terminals in post offices
- Parcel lockers and kiosks
- Customer acceptance of self-service
- 24-hour access
- The future of the post office
- The size and shape of the network
- Customer service
Mark Fallon, President and CEO of the Berkshire Company, covers recent developments in postal reform, including recent Congressional hearings:
- An update on the underwhelming Postal Task Force Report
- UPS court action on postal pricing
- Politicians’ awareness of core postal issues
- Is a crisis being manufactured?
- Some positives from the Senate Hearing
- USPS Board of Governors
- Calls to privatise the US Postal Service
- USPS’s 10-year plan, or lack thereof
- 5-day letter delivery
- Is the USPS a letter company or a delivery company?
- Legislative reform for the US Postal Service (including a very silly bill that will go nowhere)
- Parcel lockers - including residential parcel lockers, and returns
- Carrier agnostic parcel lockers, and siting parcel lockers in post offices
- Q2 financials
- Parcel volume volumes and trends, the USPS’s share of e-commerce parcels
- The need for complete rate reform
- Rules and definitions for letters - and why they make no sense in 2019
Juan Sotolongo from 722 Consulting joins me to analyse trends and strategies in Chinese e-commerce delivery:
- Why Amazon is pulling out of China
- Cultural and business considerations in selling in China
- JD.com exiting the Australian market
- Comparing Alibaba and JD’s delivery networks
- JD.com slashing delivery costs and the impact on share price
- How Alibaba is managing delivery costs
- Alibaba’s stakes in courier companies
- Out-of-home delivery, including parcel lockers
- Volumes and third-party operated parcel lockers
- Profitability and efficiency with parcel lockers
- Luxury delivery service
- Customer service for e-commerce consumers
- Could some of these initiatives work in the West?
- Customer experience and the last mile
Dean Maciuba, Director of Consulting Services at Logistics Trends & Insights, analyses FedEx Express’s decision to dump Amazon:
- The factors behind FedEx’s decision
- Bad blood between FedEx and Amazon
- What does one-day Prime have to do it?
- Peak season volumes
- Is Amazon a true competitor in the last mile?
- FedEx Ground and Amazon going forward
- FedEx capacity concerns and network renewal
Then we get on to the topic of Amazon’s Delivery Service Partners (DSPs):
- Incentives available to prospective DSPs
- Amazon moving into mid-sized markets - concerns about density
- Is Amazon finding it difficult sourcing DSPs?
- Structure of DSPs (including size of fleets), and how it compares to the FedEx Ground model
- Profitability for DSPs
- Training and driver efficiency
- Amazon and B2B e-commerce (including healthcare and technology)
- DSP vehicles
- How DSPs will impact on US Postal Service volumes
- The fate of Amazon’s original DSPs
Patrick Leysen, VP Future Lab at bpost, talks about bpost's approach to innovation, including its recent in-home delivery trial with Zalando:
- The importance of trust in enabling in-home delivery
- How new sharing platforms enable trust between strangers
- Impact on transparency and a two-way relationship on repeat business
- Creating the Parcify delivery start-up
- How bpost acquired Parcify
- Crowd-sourced delivery
- Markets for same-day delivery
- Creating and nurturing innovation in a big organisation
- Co-creation - how bpost worked with Zalando to create the in-home parcel delivery pilot programme
- Creating new in-home services
Professor John Manners-Bell, Chief Executive at Ti Insights, joins me to analyse the causes and potential cures for the global driver shortage:
- What’s behind the driver shortage
- Ensuring quality of drivers
- The importance of driver welfare
- Money! Driver remuneration
- Supply and demand being driven by e-commerce
- Women participation in trucking
- Government’s role
- Emissions standards
- Autonomous trucks, including regulation
- Structural inefficiencies in the road freight market
Marek Różycki, Managing Partner at Last Mile Experts, joins me to preview our presentation at Leaders In Logistics Last Mile Delivery:
- Why is Amazon interested in the last mile?
- Is Amazon a predictable animal?
Wayne Haubner, CTO at the Escher Group, talks about advances in technology in the post office world:
- Keeping POS technology simple while offering a greater range of over-the-counter transactions
- The user experience and what that means for training costs and error rates
- Integration between retail systems and other internal systems
- Communicating between different POS platforms - including mobile POS - in real time
- Advantages of in-store mobile POS
- Pop-up retail stores (including parcel collection)
- Cashierless stores, such as Amazon Go - could they work in the postal world?
- Customer loyalty programmes and the in-store customer experience
- How technology can help in finding new revenue streams
- Automation and self-service in post offices
- Real time data enabling customised delivery (interactive delivery management)
- Integrity of data in cross-border shipping (including blockchain)
Amazon Prime will soon promise next-day delivery for its members in the USA. Marek Rozycki, Managing Partner at Last Mile Experts, joins me to analyse this move:
- Amazon: the catalyst for change in the last mile
- The scale of Amazon’s investment in the last mile
- Proximity to the customer and density of fulfilment centres
- Shipping by air to please the customer
- Walmart’s response - motivated by competition or by delighting the customer?
- Parcel volume for Amazon’s Delivery Service Partners - and what motivates Amazon to find alternative delivery providers
- Customer expectations in the last mile - including out-of-home delivery options
Also in this episode:
- Shipster, Australia Post’s answer to Amazon Prime, is set to close in July
- Poste Italiane has announced a joint venture with digital freight start-up sennder
John Callan, co-founder and Managing Director at Ursa Major Associates, and co-founder of the PostalVision2020 initiative, joins me to talk about the Trump-quake in the US postal sector, including:
- How President Trump has injected excitement into the postal sector
- Is the USPS’s plight all Amazon’s fault?
- The Postal Taskforce
- The political interest in the US Postal Service… and Jeff Bezos’s political views
- Privatisation
- STOP Act and its global implications
- The USA’s potential exit from the UPU
- USPS Board of Governors
- Universal Service Obligation - potential for change and opportunities
Click here to find out more about this year’s PostalVision2020 event.
Marshall Hughes, co-founder and CEO of delivery start-up Passel, joins me. We cover:
- The technology and reasoning behind Passel
- Accessing excess capacity compared to professional or “gig economy” couriers
- What cocooning is and what it means for a startup - and how it’s different to pivoting
- E-commerce returns and exchanges
- The experience for passers (Passel’s delivery people) and why it’s important - and how it differs from the gig economy delivery experience
- Passel’s partnership with Swinburne University about smart cities
- Demand for same-day and next-day delivery
- Which sectors?
- What kind of customers?
Pierre Morin, International Relations at Canada Post, is back to fill us in on what has been happening at the UPU:
- Net importers vs net exporters
- A detailed discussion of the three options that have been proposed:
- Accelerating minor increases previously agreed (including modelling of how this would affect Canada Post)
- Self-declared rates (the only option that currently seems acceptable to the USA), including protections against price gouging
- The compromise option with a transition period before introducing self-declared rates, including price caps
- The postal ballot process, including the involvement of “sanctioned countries”
- Likely process for the Congress to be held in September - if indeed it goes ahead
- The chance for compromise at the Congress
- Public statements made by other nations
- Funding changes if the USA withdraws from the UPU
First up this week, a quick update on the status of the UPU’s terminal dues discussions. Check out episode 146 for a full discussion on this topic from Canada Post’s Pierre Morin. It’s a topic that I’ll revisit in full in a future episode.
Then Dean Maciuba from Logistics Trends & Insights joins me to talk about a new development in e-commerce returns:
- Walgreens and Nordstrom (a department store, not just a clothing store as I say in the podcast!) to offer pick-ups and returns on behalf of other retailers
- A retailer-agnostic returns channel for retailers
- The driver for Walgreens to take returns
- Implications for the postal sector - in particular those posts offering e-commerce returns solutions
- FedEx’s deal with Walgreens to be a retail location for FedEx - and its implementation at the coalface
- The day-to-day practicalities of dealing with parcels in a retail outlet, including secure storage
- Is this another opportunity missed by the US Postal Service?
Nick Manolis, CEO of the Escher Group, is my guest. In a wide-ranging discussion, we cover:
- Escher’s transformation and engagement with postal operators
- Technology that spans operating systems and platforms
- Product development and innovation
- Posts seeking to modernise the post office network
- Diversification and transforming the post - including improving the customer experience
- Protecting the core business while funding new growth areas
- The key challenges facing postal operators
- Consumer expectations being driven by the Amazon effect
- Posts taking advantage of opportunities and becoming disruptors
- Putting the customer first
- Increasing revenues at small posts, and scaling profitability at large posts
- Simplifying training for counter operators
- Setting up mobile PUDO points
- Technology enabling postal strategy
The USPS Office of Inspector General recently released a report called What’s Driving Postal Transportation Costs? One of the report’s authors, USPS OIG senior economist Jennifer Bradley, explains some of the report’s findings:
- Background to the report, including the decline in letters and the growth in input costs
- The period covered by the report and the potential impact of events such as the GFC and elections
- The areas that warrant further study
- Separating transport costs from last mile delivery costs
- Fixed costs in transporting mail and parcels
- Air transport costs, service standards, and shifting volume from air to surface
- Growth in parcels and the impact on transportation costs
- Route optimisation and reducing transport costs
Mario Mayerthaler, Head of A1 Innovation at Austrian telecom operator A1, joins me to talk about the A1 Paket Station project converting phone booths into parcel lockers. We cover:
- How A1 developed the concept
- The size and potential spread of the network
- Other sites that can host parcel lockers
- Obligations to maintain a phone booth network
- Co-operating with local stores for parcel locker access
- Working with online marketplace Shpock
- How a member of the public can directly lodge items in the lockers
- Early feedback on the A1 Paket Stationen
- Infrastructure demands of parcel lockers
- Partnership with Austrian Post and the possibility of being a carrier-neutral parcel locker network
Then I discuss UPS’s latest attempt to make drone delivery work:
- Comparisons with Swiss Post’s lab sample drone delivery service
- UPS’s continuing push into healthcare and pharmaceutical logistics
- Competition from FedEx and others - and the need to innovate
Dean Maciuba from Logistics Trends & Insights, analyses FedEx’s recent earnings call. We cover:
- FedEx’s December results
- Comparison of UPS’s and FedEx’s peak season performance
- FedEx’s international performance
- Are there global economic headwinds, or is this being used as an excuse?
- Integration of TNT and the 2017 cyber attack
- Impact of employee buy-outs on the company
- Changes to the executive management team
- Integrating FedEx Express and Ground networks
- Dean’s take on the new FedEx SameDay Bot and the need to invest in new technology
Mark Harrison, Head of Markets at International Post Corporation, goes behind the data of the IPC’s recent Global Postal Industry Report. We cover:
- How the postal industry is evolving
- Key postal industry trends
- Analysis of decline in letter volumes, in particular e-substitution, and comparison between sectors
- Pricing of letters, fixed costs, and volume decline
- Changing the universal service obligation
- Parcel volume growth vs e-commerce growth
- Posts partnering with delivery start-ups
- Competition in parcel delivery and the impact on margins
- Posts diversifying outside the letters business
- International operations
- Acquisitions
- Major trends that will shape the postal sector
Pierre Morin, International Relations at Canada Post, gives us an insider’s perspective on how the USA vs UPU battle has been progressing. We cover:
- The impact on inbound international parcels on Canada Post’s bottom line
- Shortcomings in the current international pricing arrangements
- Comparing domestic parcel rates to inbound international parcels
- Response to the USA’s announcement it intends to leave the UPU
- The Universal Postal Coalition group of countries
- Mail exporters, extra-territorial offices of exchange, and the single postal territory
- The countries and postal operators benefiting from the current system
- The remaining options being discussed at the UPU, and whether or not they will address the USA’s concerns and keep the USA in the UPU
- How self-declared rates work and the implications for the sector
- What’s next for the UPU to resolve the issue
Angela Hultberg Head of Sustainable Mobility at the IKEA Group is my special guest. We cover:
- How IKEA is partnering with delivery companies
- IKEA’s vision for 100% zero emission delivery by 2025
- Where IKEA is already using zero emission vehicles
- The kind of vehicles IKEA is using to achieve its target
- Why collaboration is central to meeting emissions targets
- Charging infrastructure
- Choosing vehicles that are appropriate for each market
- The customer experience in delivery, including day-specific and time-slot delivery, and value added services via TaskRabbit.
- How customer expectations are changing, and how that drives competition
- Staying true to a company’s values in the face of competition - and how going for zero emissions impacts on fast delivery
- Packaging - including minimising, eliminating, and recycling packaging
Marek Różycki, Managing Partner Last Mile Experts, joins me to discuss residential delivery. We cover:
- Porch piracy
- Unattended home delivery
- The problems with leaving parcels unattended at the delivery address
- Evaluating leave safe options for residential parcel delivery
- How Amazon Key works
- In-home delivery, and in-garage delivery
- Personal at-home parcel lockers (pros and cons)
- Smart locks and apartment blocks
- Delivery to the refrigerator
Bassel el Koussa, co-founder and CEO of same-day and next-day delivery company Quiqup, is my special guest. We discuss:
- How Quiqup was founded
- The original Quiqup concept and how it evolved
- Creating a model that works at scale
- Enabling same-day, next-day and time-slot delivery for retailers
- The growth in same-day delivery in e-commerce
- The importance of ship-from-store in omnichannel retail
- Reimagining retail stores - changing the retail experience and creating micro-fulfilment centres
- The technology that powers Quiqup’s real-time view of its operations
- The continuous delivery concept
- How Quiqup’s Task Operations Manager works - including dynamic task allocation
- Customer-facing interactive delivery management
- Quiqup’s partnership with Parcelly (micro warehousing and express delivery)
- The Quiqup delivery fleet
Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner North America at Last Mile Experts, discusses FedEx Extra Hours and FedEx’s expansion of out-of-home delivery options:
- What FedEx Extra Hours is (1:45)
- What it means for FedEx (3:35)
- Extending order deadlines for next-day delivery and optimising stock held in distribution centres (4:05)
- Driving scale and profitability (6:45)
- The profile of retailers that will offer next-day delivery (7:35)
- The problems big retailers are facing when taking on Amazon and other e-commerce players (8:30)
- FedEx expanding buy online, pick-up in store (9:15)
- FedEx’s PUDO partnerships with Walgreens and other retailers (11:00)
- Redirecting residential deliveries to PUDO points (12:00)
- Do consumers really want to collect parcels from a PUDO point? (13:10)
- Amazon’s home delivery strategy (14:00)
- Density of PUDO networks (15:40)
- Will carriers start charging more for residential delivery? (16:40)
- Amazon’s home delivery network (17:30)
Mark Fallon, CEO and President of the Berkshire Company, reviews the US Postal Task Force report, including:
- Background to the Postal Task Force (2:45)
- The report submitted to the President and the report released to the public (4:30)
- Reactions from stakeholders (5:25)
- The need for a universal service obligation definition (6:00)
- Setting prices for parcels and letters (7:40)
- Allocation of costs in pricing parcel services (8:50)
- Horror of horrors… drone delivery! (10:10)
- Annual growth in delivery points (11:00)
- A silly proposal in the report (13:00)
- Staff costs, the role of unions in collective bargaining, executive remuneration, and a brief history of industrial relations in the postal sector
- Privatisation of the US Postal Service, and monetising the mailbox monopoly (20:05)
- Authorship of the report (25:00)
- Something light-hearted to round things off… (28:50)
Dean Maciuba and Marek Różycki from Last Mile Experts join me to review some of the major trends in 2018. We cover:
- Out-of-home delivery - including parcel lockers (2:05)
- What is driving out-of-home delivery options (3:15)
- PUDO networks (4:00)
- How home ownership and lifestyle choices influence residential delivery (4:55)
- What the two major US parcel carriers are doing in parcel lockers and PUDO points (5:48)
- Price incentive to recipients to accept out-of-home delivery (8:35)
- Deutsche Post DHL’s delivery and PUDO network in Germany (10:33)
- Estonian out-of-home delivery market (11:55)
- Is the “gig economy” delivery model doomed? (13:00)
- VC-backed delivery start-ups (14:57)
Cathy Morrow Roberson, founder and lead analyst at Logistics Trends & Insights, discusses the big trends in air freight in 2018, including:
- Strength of global air freight in 2018 (19:55)
- Cross-border partnerships, including China Post and Lufthansa (21:00)
- Trends in pricing, including fuel surcharges (21:32)
- FedEx and UPS’s air fleets (22:05)
- How retail is driving demand for air freight (23:05)
- Tariffs on Chinese imports and what that means for cross-border logistics (24:45)
Dean Maciuba and Marek Różycki from Last Mile Experts join me to review some of the major trends in 2018. We cover:
- Grocery delivery in the USA, in particular Walmart (2:25)
- Supermarkets integrating with technology and delivery companies (3:45)
- Walmart’s locker technology in its supermarkets (4:35)
- Amazon making waves in grocery delivery (5:00)
- Grocery delivery in the UK (7:00)
- At-home or out-of-home delivery? What about the risks of food spoilage? (7:25)
- Problems with individual at-home parcel lockers (11:00)
- Threats to cross-border e-commerce (12:00)
- Impact of Brexit on cross-border e-commerce (15:15)
- Growth in importance of international shipping (16:30)
- Chinese merchants and shippers not offering a good customer experience (17:15)
- Amazon offering free delivery (18:05)
- How eBay could change the last mile at scale (20:15)
- Environment and sustainability (21:30)
- How local culture affects adoption of green delivery options (21:35)
- Traffic congestion and reducing the number of delivery vehicles on the road (24:00)
- A huge rant from me about city logistics, congestion, and a lack of town planning (26:40)
- How first-time delivery helps reduce emissions (29:45)
Garrett Bridgeman, Managing Director Mails & Parcels at An Post, is my special guest. We cover:
- The policy behind An Post’s plan to eliminate carbon emissions (1:05)
- An Post’s carbon savings to date (1:51)
- The details of An Post’s emissions commitment (2:10)
- An Post’s current fleet and the profile of the new environmentally-friendly vehicles (3:30)
- Reducing carbon emissions in the truck network (5:10)
- Putting solar panels on delivery units (6:50)
- Vehicle charging bays at the front of post offices for public use (7:20)
- An Post’s corporate vehicle fleet (8:00)
- Predictions for An Post’s peak season - including a big prediction for Amazon parcel volumes (9:15)
- Seasonal hires and additional deliveries (11:15)
- An update on DeliveryBox (12:25)
Mathew Galt, CEO and co-founder of e-commerce fulfilment company Fulfilio, is my special guest. We cover:
- What Fulfilio is and how it all started (1:20)
- Current spread of the Fulfilio network of sites (2:52)
- The affiliation with Australia Post (3:20)
- Delivery options at check-out (4:35)
- The e-commerce fulfilment scene in Australia (5:10)
- The difference between 3PLs and e-commerce fulfilment (5:55)
- Achieving speed of fulfilment in a big country (7:00)
- Consumer expectations in speed of fulfilment, e.g. next day (7:35)
- Fulfilio’s ability to achieve same-day delivery (8:55)
- Time-specific (time-slot) delivery (9:50)
- Customised (or personalised) e-commerce fulfilment (11:00)
- The customer experience for same-day delivery (13:45)
- Fulfilio’s deal with eBay (14:15)
- Australian merchants selling cross-border (16:55)
Mark Fallon, President and CEO of the Berkshire Company, shares his perspectives on the USPS's Informed Delivery service:
- How Informed Delivery works (2:00)
- Update on subscription levels (3:20)
- How USPS has been promoting Informed Delivery (3:55)
- The change of focus from the recipient to the sender (5:10)
- Integrating bill payment into Informed Delivery (6:15)
- How e-substitution and online payment are affecting letter volumes (6:45)
- Is Informed Delivery more trustworthy than email? (7:52)
- Do recipients and senders see value in Informed Delivery? (9:05)
- Combining digital and physical mailing campaigns (11:40)
- Is Informed Delivery making mail campaigns too complex? (13:40)
- What’s next for Informed Delivery? (15:00)
- What the USPS’s innovative Informed Address service is all about (17:25)
- Identity fraud and Informed Delivery (21:35)
- USPS seasonal hires for peak season (24:55)
- Australia Post’s Mail2Day service (29:15)
Megan Brennan, US Postal Service Postmaster General, shares some comments on the USPS’s full-year financial results and the challenges facing the postal giant. (30:45)
Could the Chinese e-commerce delivery model work in the West? Juan Sotolongo, Senior Partner at 722 Consulting, shares his perspectives:
- The composition of Western delivery networks compared to the Chinese model (1:10)
- Delivery vehicles and conditions (3:00)
- Is same-day delivery a premium service? (4:20)
- Location of sorting centres and service centres (5:30)
- Sorting plans (6:40)
- How regional areas benefit in faster delivery times (7:30)
- Delivery to parcel lockers, including usage and network density (8:33)
- Would this delivery model work in the West? (10:10)
- Carrier agnostic parcel lockers (11:25)
- Putting parcel lockers in residential apartment buildings (12:50)
- Amazon and the major US parcel carriers (13:55)
- Is there an opportunity to embrace elements of the Chinese model to improve “traditional” delivery? (15:20)
Kate Muth, Executive Director at IMAG (International Mailers Advisory Group), discusses the STOP Act and what it means for cross-border parcels, including:
- The background to the STOP Act, including how it will work (2:00)
- The problem of opioids being shipped into the USA via the post (2:35)
- The key deadlines associated with the STOP Act, including compliance for China (3:50)
- Exceptions to the deadlines (4:15)
- The deadline for 100% transmission of AED for parcels into the USA (4:48)
- What happens if advance data isn’t provided (5:15)
- Could the US Postal Service refuse to accept inbound international mail? What are the solutions? (6:25)
- What does the proposed exit from the UPU mean for the STOP Act? (7:55)
- Why hasn’t the UPU already developed international standards? (9:15)
- Impact of STOP Act on other carriers (11:00)
- Implications for inbound international e-commerce (11:40)
Marshall Hughes, co-founder and CEO of delivery start-up Passel, joins me to discuss:
- Funding of delivery start-ups, including Passel
- Different delivery models, including:
- Crowd-sourcing
- Sharing economy
- Gig economy
- How companies such as Uber and Lyft are contributing to traffic congestion
- Passel’s domestic and international expansion plans
- Some of the challenges of expanding into other markets
- Environmental considerations in the last mile
- The same-day delivery market, including customers’ varying delivery expectations
- Recruiting new delivery people
- The technology behind on-demand same-day delivery
The USA has announced its intention to leave the UPU. Anna Möller Boivie, Managing Director of Copenhagen Economics (Stockholm), shares her insights:
- The options available to the USA:
- Bilateral agreements
- Multilateral agreements
- What would happen if there’s a “no deal” exit?
- The UPU services other than terminal dues that will be affected by the USA’s potential exit.
- Has the UPU made any progress to solve the small packets issue?
- Could the USA chosen a different path than simply leaving the UPU? What other options exist?
- How Sweden has stopped small parcels from China avoiding tax, and if that could be an option for the USA.
Richard Wishart then joins me (11:06) to give his opinion on the matter. We cover:
- The background to the international cross-border product EMS, including international arrangements under the UPU and IPC:
- Standards
- Pricing
- Monitoring
- The need for international standards (16:25)
- Addressing
- Parcel sizing
- What is the USA trying to achieve by pulling out of the UPU? (18:00)
- How does the USA contribute to the UPU? (19:00)
- Implications for USA e-commerce companies that sell cross-border? (21:32)
- The USA’s potential loss of lobbying power (24:00)
- The lack of progress in resolving terminal dues, and transparency of information (25:17)
- The need for location standards under the UPU (26:03)
- Is this an opportunity for the UPU to embrace reform? (27:32)
The USA has filed divorce papers with the UPU… but will parcel carriers be the real winners? Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner North America at Last Mile Experts, spoke with me in the immediate aftermath of the USA’s announcement.
-
The domestic news that helped trigger the USA’s decision
-
Could the carriers benefit?
More detailed analysis and opinion on this topic coming next week!
Cathy Morrow Roberson, founder at Logistics Trends and Insights, joins me to discuss how UPS is preparing for peak season, including:
-
Expanding interactive delivery management tool UPS My Choice to new markets
-
The new sorting centre and expanded parcel sorting capacity
-
Hiring surge for peak season
Marek Różycki, Managing Partner at Last Mile Experts, joins me to cover some of the key discussion points from our recent Post Expo workshop “Understanding Amazon means winning the last mile”, including:
- Amazon’s European acquisitions in the last mile
- Amazon Flex crowd-sourced delivery
- Out of home delivery, including first-time delivery rates
- Branding of delivery vehicles
- Drones in the last mile
- How serious Amazon is about innovation
- Amazon in the home, including the Amazon Dash Wand
Martin Luts, Chief Operational Officer at Omniva, joins me to talk about some innovation and new infrastructure, including:
- A new sorting centre
- Increased efficiency and volume capacity
- Centralised sorting of letters and parcels under the same roof
- Sorting plans and subsidiary hubs
- Solar panels on the roof
- Electric vehicle trial, and the use cases for electric delivery vehicles
- Omniva’s growing network of parcel lockers across the Baltics
- Public acceptance
- Location and availability
Also in this episode, Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner North America for Last Mile Experts, analyses Amazon’s recent wage increase.
- What this means for small carriers as well as the delivery giants such as UPS, FedEx and USPS
- The tight labour market and hiring for peak season
Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner North America for Last Mile Experts, joins me to analyse recent announcements from UPS, including:
- Labour rates
- New employee contract, and new classes of drivers
- Hiring temporary workers for peak season
- The tight US labour market
- The UPS Access Point (PUDO) network, and delivery efficiencies
- Amazon volumes - profitability and threats
- FedEx strategy, including profitability of ground shipments and residential deliveries
- B2B deliveries, delivery density, and profitability
- Amazon Delivery Partners - what’s the future for UPS?
Episode sponsored by Onfleet.
John Reis, General Manager Retail at Canada Post, is my special guest. Our interview was recorded at the recent E-BISS Retail Workshop. We cover:
- Canada Post's concept post offices
- Drive-thru parcel collection
- Self-serve terminals - including discounts on shipping rates
- Change rooms in post offices
- How FlexDelivery (delivery direct to post office) works
- PO Boxes and parcel collection
- Cash on delivery
Australia Post has launched a public awareness campaign, focusing on promoting safety for its delivery officers. Also in this episode, plans in the UK to give electric vehicles priority in traffic.
Cooper Smith, Director of Amazon Intelligence at L2 Gartner, is back to talk about Amazon, delivery, omni-channel and much more:
- Trends in click-and-collect and return in-store
- Amazon's weakness in omni-channel
- What US retailers can learn from UK retailers in the omni-channel retail experience
- How do retailers give customers the most purchasing and fulfilment options?
- Cost incentives relating to e-commerce shipping
- Geo-targeting of customers
- Speed of delivery offered and the speed that customers want
- Free delivery thresholds and membership programmes
- Customer service in retail
- Amazon delivering the last mile
Supermercato24 CEO Federico Sargenti talks about the personalised online grocery delivery experience, including:
- How Supermercato24 works, including personal shoppers
- The picking and delivery experience
- Achieving time-window delivery
- Partnering with supermarket retailers to offer delivery
- Enabling smaller retailers to offer e-commerce and delivery
- How the delivery model works outside of major cities
- Matching demand and supply
- Delivering temperature-sensitive and "bruise-able" groceries
- Expansion plans
John Hagel, leader at Deloitte's Centre for the Edge, shares insights into how successful Silicon Valley companies plan for the future:
- The power of the customer
- How technology is helping the customer
- The strategic approach of the most successful technology companies
- The "zoom in, zoom out" strategy
- Creating a vision for the future
- Predicting the future for your business
Also in this episode, US Postal Service Postmaster General Megan Brennan talks about the USPS's recent Q3 results, including trends in letter and parcel volumes.
UPS is hiking its surcharges for handling large, heavy goods. What will this mean for the delivery and e-commerce sectors? Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner North America for Last Mile Experts, joins me to analyse the implications, including:
- UPS's new surcharges
- Why carriers and posts don't want heavy, bulky parcels in the system
- How heavy and bulky parcels are delivered in the USA
- Opportunities in two-person delivery, in particular for XPO Logistics
- Vehicles being used for two-person delivery
- Implications for the logistics network and warehouses
- What Amazon is doing in delivery of heavy goods
- Could postal operators compete effectively in this business?
The Trump Administration recently announced that privatisation is on the cards for the US Postal Service. Mark Fallon, President and CEO of the Berkshire Company, joins me to analyse the announcement. We cover:
- What the announcement really means, including whether or not it is binding
- The possibility of Congress passing legislation to privatise the USPS
- Is partial privatisation a possibility?
- Competition and access to the mailbox
- Previous postal reform legislation
- Postal banking
- Update on other current legislation (a staggering amount!) that relates to the USPS
- The Board of Governors
Karlijn Krol from PostNL's Innovation Lab (Innovation Studio) joins me to talk about how posts can foster innovation:
- The Innovation Lab's position within the PostNL management structure
- The development cycle at the Innovation Lab
- Customers' willingness to pay for a product or service
- What the "moment of truth" is
- PostNL's baggage service (Bagageservice) - how it works, and how it was developed
- "Ownership" of a product during development and post-development
- Piloting a new service
Antonio Perini, CEO and founder of Milkman, joins me to talk about advanced e-commerce delivery options:
- Competing on delivery service levels
- Flexible delivery options
- Giving customers the power to reschedule deliveries
- The personalised delivery experience
- Making flexible, time-slot delivery work in practice
- The premium on flexible delivery options
- Consolidating deliveries for residential addresses
- Transparency of delivery pricing
- An overview of the Italian delivery sector
- The complexity of Italian logistics, including delivery density
- First-time delivery success rates and driver punctuality rates
- Porch piracy
Three guests this week! First up, Marek Różycki from Last Mile Experts talks about Amazon's latest push into the last mile:
- Is it a new idea?
- Does it make sense for Amazon?
- What does it mean for other carriers?
Then Duncan Buchanan, Policy Director at the Road Haulage Association, talks about the environmental challenges facing the trucking sector. The interview was recorded at Post&Parcel Live: Solving the Inner City Challenge.
- EURO emission standards
- Access to clean city zones (low emission zones)
- Congestion issues and how this affects efficiencies and emissions
- Strategies to improve driver behaviour
- Driver training and being a professional driver
Finally, Cathy Morrow Roberson from Logistics Trends and Insights joins me to analyse the recently announced partnership between Alibaba and French logistics group Bolloré. We cover:
- Alibaba building out a global logistics network
- The regions that will be targeted by this deal
- Expansion into developing markets
- Implications for Alibaba's customer experience
- Alibaba's delivery goals
Patrick Gallagher, Group CEO CitySprint, is my special guest. We cover:
- CitySprint's transformation from B2B only to include e-commerce time slot delivery via On The Dot
- How the internet affected "traditional" B2B courier firms like CitySprint
- The importance of branding
- How technology drives same-day delivery
- CitySprint's expansion plans
- What B-to-B-to-C is
- How tight a time slot do consumers want?
Tiemen van Bruggen, Transformation Director at PostNL, joins me to talk about delivery and strategy. We cover:
- Different residential delivery modes in various European countries:
- Italy
- Netherlands
- UK
- Insights into setting up a new letter delivery network from scratch
- Delivery/return of mis-addressed mail
- Overcoming addressing issues
- Measuring and monitoring productivity
- Agile ways of working in the post
Paul Anastasiou, ASDA's Senior Director for Parcel Services joins me to talk about ASDA's interesting click-and-collect service called toyou. We cover:
- How the toyou click-and-collect service differs from "traditional" click-and-collect services
- Network coverage and hours of collection
- Customer communications
- Innovative in-store and mobile technology
- The infrastructure behind toyou
- Speed of parcel collection
- E-commerce returns via the toyou network
- The parcel tower
Brody Buhler, Global Managing Director of Accenture's Post & Parcel business, is my special guest. We cover:
- How smartphone proliferation is changing delivery expectations
- Target fulfilling e=commerce from its massive network of stores
- How distributed fulfilment differs from central fulfilment, including cost
- Alternative delivery solutions
- Customer delivery preferences
- Inter-generational differences in e-commerce delivery
- Trends in cross-border delivery
- Innovation and trust in "the crowd" in delivery
- The future of the global cross-border postal system
- The new "continuous delivery" concept
Cathy Morrow Roberson analyses grocery delivery, including:
- Target's acquisition of Grand Central and Shipt
- Integrating these acquisitions under the Target brand
- Target's history with Amazon
- Walmart's acquisition of delivery startup Parcel
- Walmart testing other delivery partners
- Kroger's deal with Ocado
- The factors that will determine the winners in online grocery e-commerce
- The shopping experience and the delivery experience
- Packaging - how to ensure groceries arrive intact
Marek Różycki, Managing Partner at Last Mile Experts, joins me to talk about out-of-home delivery options. We cover:
- Out-of-home delivery trends in Estonia
- Parcel lockers in retail networks
- Amazon's in-car delivery via Amazon Key
- Shortcomings of in-car delivery
- Cost-savings and environmental concerns
- Improving security of in-car delivery
- DPD Netherlands' ParcelLetter service
- Proving non-signature delivery success
- E-commerce parcel returns
Rajeeb Chowdhury, Chief of Planning and Customer Service at NAQEL Express, joins me to talk about delivery in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Region. We cover:
- The challenges of B2C delivery in Saudi Arabia
- Cultural factors affecting residential delivery
- Cash on delivery
- E-commerce returns
- Local e-commerce platforms
- Cross-border shipping into the Gulf Region
- Parcel tracking - and tracking the driver!
- Handling failed first-time deliveries
In this exclusive interview, Ukrposhta COO Oleks Pertsovskyi discusses delivery in Ukraine:
- Ukrposhta's delivery obligations
- Letter volume trends in Ukraine, including strategies to stabilise letter volumes in some segments
- Last mile delivery of letters and parcels (and cash!)
- Parcel collection at the post office
- E-commerce parcel volumes, domestic and cross-border
- Speed of cross-border deliveries
- Partnerships with other posts and logistics companies
- Taxes on in-bound cross-border parcels
- The size and composition of the Ukrposhta delivery fleet
Azhar Hussain, CEO of Hanhaa, talks about next generation parcel tracking and monitoring, along with the tech in Hanhaa's ParceLive product. We cover:
- Monitoring parcels in real time
- Identifying problems in the delivery chain
- Insuring parcels
- Proof of delivery
- Predicting delivery failure
- Cross-border parcel monitoring
- Data standards
Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner North America for Last Mile Experts, joins me to discuss FedEx, Walmart, e-commerce returns, PUDO networks, the post office, and more!
- FedEx Office's deal with Walmart:
- Background to the deal
- Comparisons with other PUDO networks
- What the deal means for e-commerce returns
- FedEx's renewed emphasis on e-commerce returns
- Integrating returns through FedEx's transportation channel
- Competition in e-commerce returns
- Cross-border returns
- Printing returns labels - different solutions
- Free returns
- The post office network and returns
- Retailers that reject returns from customers
Postal expert and qualified drone pilot Richard Wishart joins me to discuss delivery by drone, including:
- How to become a drone pilot
- Use cases for delivery drones
- How UPS, Swiss Post, and Iceland Post are delivering by drone
- Roadblocks to drone delivery becoming viable
- Autonomous delivery
- The role of the post in regulatory change
- Safety
Marshall Hughes, co-founder and CEO of on-demand delivery startup Passel joins me to talk about crowd-sourced delivery. We cover:
- Early learnings from the Passel model
- Integrating crowd-sourced with contracted courier companies
- Gig economy vs crowd-sourced delivery
- "Standard" delivery vs "gig" delivery
- Expansion and the density of the crowd
- Key delivery challenges in Australia
- Localised e-commerce fulfilment
- FOMO! Passel's partnership with location-based retail app Brauz
Sam Clarke, founder of all-electric delivery firm Gnewt Cargo, on using electric vehicles in the last mile:
- Why Gnewt Cargo was founded and how it expanded
- Electric vehicles and congestion charges
- Legislative restrictions affecting diesel vehicles
- Making electric vehicle delivery working in the real world
- What the acquisition by John Menzies PLC means for Gnewt's future, including expansion
- City logistics - consolidation of last mile delivery in city centres
- The vehicle types in the Gnewt fleet
- Are electric vehicles a viable alternative to conventionally-fuelled vehicles?
Chloë Thomas from the eCommerce Masterplan joins me to give an e-commerce perspective on delivery. We cover:
- The importance of delivery to e-commerce
- What can be done about "free" delivery
- Customer expectations of delivery in peak periods
- Quality of delivery (including presentation of courier drivers) and how it relates to the e-commerce experience
- Unboxing! (It's a thing, and you need to know about it.)
- Branding on boxes... and the security implications
- Environment issues for e-commerce retailers
- In-flight customer notifications
- Do delivery companies help e-commerce businesses grow?
Doddle Chief Commercial Officer Mike Richmond gives a new perspective on e-commerce parcel delivery, in particular delivery to pick-up drop-off points (PUDOs). We cover:
- Customer-centric parcel delivery
- Pricing incentives for click-and-collect
- Personalising the shopping experience
- Same-day instant click-and-collect
- Collaboration between retailers (online and bricks-and-mortar)
- Consolidation of PUDO networks
- Subscription delivery services
- Why payment and delivery are inextricably linked, including "buy now pay later" options
- Returns - how PUDO networks can assist, including refunds
- Dynamic pricing in delivery
Ukrposhta acting CEO Igor Smelyansky shares his vision for the Ukrainian postal operator. We cover:
- The size and scale of the Ukrposhta post office network
- Post office ownership model
- Mobile post offices
- Future plans for the post office network, including technology
- Delivery services for smaller towns
- Ukrposhta's obligations in pension payments
- Postal banking and financial services
- Parcel delivery in rural areas
- Ukrposhta supporting Ukraine's export sector
Mark Harrison, Head of Markets at International Post Corporation joins me to discuss recent IPC research into cross-border e-commerce. We cover:
- Who is delivering the last mile for cross-border e-commerce?
- Trends in delivery direct to the post office
- Domestic delivery preferences vs international delivery
- Postal service points
- Cross-border packets weighing under 2kg
- Free shipping
- Parcels that fit in customers' letterboxes
- The importance of signature on delivery
- How much cross-border traffic comes from the dominant retailers
- Free delivery
- Delivery speed
- Returns
- Direct mail and e-commerce
DHL Parcel CEO Dr Achim Dünnwald is my special guest. We cover:
- Markets with e-commerce growth potential
- Measuring e-commerce penetration
- Overcoming rising trade barriers
- Creating a pan-European network through acquisitions and partnerships
- Network density, including parcel shops and post offices
- Speed, transparency and flexibility in delivery
- Expanding delivery options (including lockers, in-car delivery)
- Insights into the development of the Deutsche Post DHL StreetScooter
- PostBot autonomous delivery unit
Shipping With Amazon will soon kick off in the USA, with implications for the major parcel carriers. Joining me to separate the hype from reality are Marek Rożycki and Dean Maciuba from Last Mile Experts. They have extensive experience in parcel delivery, including Amazon Logistics and FedEx.
How could autonomous vehicles be used in the postal delivery sector? The USPS OIG has identified a variety of use cases for autonomous vehicles in delivery.
Frustrated with failed delivery attempts to residential addresses? Delivering to a neighbour is not a new idea, but how about paying the neighbour? This episode features Bryan See Toh, co-founder and CEO of parcel delivery startup Park N Parcel. Also in this episode: Asian air freight trends, and the implications for cross-border e-comemrce.
My special guest is Dan Arriola, owner and CEO of iD Commerce + Logistics, reviews peak season surcharges, factory direct e-commerce (and small parcels), changes to selling on Amazon, social media and e-commerce, free vs fast delivery, and much more.
How can a city of 200,000 people in mainland UK be classified as remote? Nina Ballantyne from Citizens Advice Scotland joins me to talk about research into higher shipping charges for people living in rural and remote areas and what can be done to fix the problem.
Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner North America at Last Mile Experts, joins me to kick off 2018 with an analysis of PUDO (access point) networks and how they help cut delivery costs.
Last episode for 2017! I discuss the hiring surge for peak season, Australia Post's parcel delivery trials during November/December, an autonomous delivery robot dubbed the "Esky on wheels", Amazon's status as a delivery service, and some thoughts on Amazon's arrival in Australia.
Cathy Morrow Roberson, Founder and Head Analyst at Logistics Trends & Insights shares some highlights from her recent white paper on African e-commerce. We also discuss two-person last mile delivery of heavy goods.
Mark Fallon, President and CEO of the Berkshire Company joins me to talk about some delivery initiatives from the US Postal Service. Also in this episode: An Post's Commercial Director of Mails, Fiona Heffernan joins me to talk about An Post's Christmas partnership with charity ALONE.
John Callan, co-founder/MD of Ursa Major Associates and founder/Chairman of the PostalVision 2020 Initiative and Conferences joins me to review the US Postal Service's full-year results.
Holger Winklbauer, CEO of the International Post Corporation joins me to discuss recent results from IPC's Environmental Measurement and Monitoring System programme. Also in this episode: Juan Sotolongo, Senior Partner at 722 Consulting is back to talk about Singles' Day, including some mind-boggling statistics.
E-commerce logistics expert Matt Hertz shares insights gained from his career in e-commerce and delivery startups. Matt has held senior leadership positions at Shyp, Birchbox, and Rent the Runway.
What are consumers' rights and expectations when it comes to e-commerce parcel delivery? Cara Jones, Senior Policy Researcher at Citizens Advice, joins me to give insights into recent research into customer complaints about parcel delivery.
Australia Post has developed a new delivery platform called Receva. Then Ti Mak, Innovation Partner at Australia Post's Accelerate, talks about innovation and how the platform was developed. Also in this episode, Marshall Hughes, CEO and co-founder of on-demand delivery startup Passel
Sebastian Steinhauser, Managing Director of Parcelly, joins me to talk about the e-commerce delivery landscape, including PUDO networks, customer delivery preferences, carrier agnostics parcel lockers, and communicating with customers.
My special guest is Kenneth Verlage, Head of Business Development at PostNord. We talk about some of the projects coming out of PostNord's Logistics Lab, including machine learning and predicting delivery status, and lots of last mile delivery innovation.
New Zealand Post has been trialling on-demand delivery in various sectors. Michael Stewart, General Manager Customer Experience and Innovation at NZ Post, joins me to elaborate. Also in this episode: analysis of Shipster, Australia Post's new subscription delivery service.
How DC location and density is key to the last mile in China. Juan Sotolongo, Senior Partner at 722 Consulting, talks about congestion, delivery vehicles, meal deliveries, and delivery standards in China.
My special guest is David Adams, CEO International Business Unit at SF Express. David gives us insights into the giant Chinese express company. Also in this episode: Aaron Jackson, Managing Director Federal Services at Accenture, on the future of delivery.
Tom Allason, Global VP Logistics at eBay. We talk about the delivery experience, the eBay buyer experience, carrier agnosticism, parcel lockers, and much more.
Ivana Mrkonjić, Executive Director International Business at Croatian Post talks about the new deal with DHL Parcel. Robert Hadzetovic, CEO at Austrian Post's online marketplace shoepping.at talks about what the marketplace means for Austrian e-commerce and the benefits for Austrian Post.
How do Chinese courier drivers achieve an astonishing number of deliveries per hour? Juan Sotolongo, Senior Partner at 722 Consulting, unveils some of the secrets of the last mile in China.
Shippo CEO Laura Behrens Wu talks about key e-commerce shipping issues. Last Mile Experts' Marek Różycki analyses new delivery subscription services from Australia Post and NZ Post.
The US Postal Service recently announced its Q3 2017 results, which showed just how important parcels are the the USPS's future. Joining me to analyse all this and more is John Callan, co-founder/MD of Ursa Major Associates and founder/Chairman of the PostalVision 2020 Initiative and Conferences.
Is there a future in digital mailbox services? David Allen, Country Manager for ReDigital, was involved in both of the NZ Post projects to build and launch a digital mailbox. We analyse what helps digital mailboxes succeed, and what holds them back.
In the USA, traditional mail volume has been declining for many years. The number of letters sent by American adults has been falling since 1996. But Americans' use of the mail has great variation, according to a report by the USPS OIG. I chat with two of the report's authors. Also: Australia Post testing the use of tablets in post offices.
Dean Maciuba from Last Mile Experts joins me for part two of our discussion on Amazon, e-commerce fulfilment, and the last mile.
Amazon's Country leader Middle Europe for Transportation, Rohit Sodha, talks about e-commerce fulfilment and delivery.
Ireland's An Post is launching a ground-breaking new e-commerce project to set up online stores for local businesses...free! In this exclusive interview, An Post Director of Mails, Liam O'Sullivan, gives us the inside running on elocal.it
UPS recently announced it will impose a peak shipping charge during selected weeks in November and December 2017. What will this mean for the delivery sector? Joining me to analyse the new UPS peak shipping charge is e-commerce and shipping expert Jon Northorpe from the Thought Group.
Is there such a thing as innovation in letters? Is there a future in marketing mail? Mark Fallon from the Berkshire Company and Judy Frothingham from Imagitas bring their expertise to these topics.
E-commerce fulfilment specialist, speaker and author Jonathan Reeve joins me to talk about delivering e-commerce. We cover e-commerce fulfilment models, last-mile consolidation, and (of course) Amazon.
Ivan Čulo was appointed CEO of Hrvatska Pošta (Croatia Post) in January 2017, and has big plans for the Croatian postal operator. He outlines his vision for the post and some of the challenges it faces in this in-depth interview.
There's a lot of buzz about crowd-sourced delivery... so I decided to go to the (ahem) source to find out what's really going on. Ari Kestin, CEO of crowd-sourced delivery platform Nimber, is my special guest.
Will autonomous vehicles bring savings to the delivery and transport sectors? Supply chain consultant Charles Edwards looks at real-life examples from the mining sector, and discusses how autonomous vehicles could change the delivery world.
Marek Różycki from Last Mile Experts on the post office's role in e-commerce, delivery, and how competition and partnership can co-exist in the post office and delivery network.
The US Postal Service needs to undergo radical disruption and change if it is to move forward, according to Dean Maciuba from 4Front Consulting. Dean outlines strategies for the USPS to profitably manage lower revenue from First Class Mail and the huge growth in the lower-margin parcel business.
Charles Brewer, CEO at DHL eCommerce, chats about his experience with e-commerce in developing markets, including Africa and SE Asia.
An Post is launching a new e-commerce returns product called ReturnPal. Liam O'Sullivan, An Post's Director of Mails, joins me to discuss how the new service works and the benefits for customers, e-retailers, and An Post. He also gives us an update on Delivery Box and Post Logistics.
The letters monopoly, the mailbox monopoly, privatisation of the US Postal Service, and the social role of mail all feature this week. Dr Ramesh Ratan, CEO and President of Bell and Howell, and David Williams, former USPS Inspector General and now Distinguished Professor at George Mason University, discuss the past, present and future of postal services in the USA.
Everyone in the postal and parcel sector is talking about reverse logistics and returns… but what's really happening with returns, and where is the sector heading? My expert guest is Tony Sciarrotta, Executive Director at the Reverse Logistics Association.
Lebanese postal operator Liban Post has been transformed under the watch of Chairman/Managing Director Khalil Daoud.
Amazon analyst Cooper Smith from L2 Inc on how Amazon drives customer loyalty, why apparel is next for Amazon, and why Amazon is serious about delivering the last mile. Cathy Morrow Roberson from LogisticsTI analyses Amazon's acquisition of Souq.com, including implications for logistics and delivery in the Middle East.
Leading postal and parcel industry figure Elmar Toime joined me for an in-depth and at times provocative look at the current state of the postal sector and the emerging trends.
My special guest is social entrepreneur Andrew Butcher. Andrew is the founding CEO of GTECH Strategies, an organisation with a focus on transforming vacant land for social good. Recently, Andrew has researched how vacant (and soon-to-become-vacant) land owned by the US Postal Service could be repurposed to help local communities.
Dean Maciuba from 4Front Consulting joins me to analyse FedEx's new FedEx Fulfilment. We cover what's happening in e-commerce fulfilment right now, what UPS, DHL and Amazon are doing in e-commerce fulfilment, and much more.
Amazon recently held its earnings call, and Cathy Morrow Roberson from Logistics Trends and Insights joins me to summarise and analyse some of the key points from the call. Also in this episode: behind the scenes at PostalVision2020 with John Callan.
Charles Thompson, COO of Aramex Global Solutions, is my special guest. AGS is the joint venture between Australia Post and Aramex. We cover the background to the deal, who benefits from the deal, and what the future holds for the joint venture. We also discuss cross-border e-commerce, and future acquisitions in the postal and e-commerce sectors.
Mitch Bittermann, Group Chief Logistics Officer at aCommerce, joins me for a detailed discussion of delivery and e-commerce in Southeast Asia.
Brody Buhler, Global Managing Director of Accenture's Post & Parcel business, joins me to discuss e-commerce's new battleground: delivery. We cover free and fast delivery, drone delivery (and how cheap it is), delivery start-ups, consumer control of the last mile, and much more.
Postal reform is a recurring topic in the USA, but little seems to have happened so far. Joining me to analyse the current state of affairs is Mark Fallon, President and CEO of the Berkshire Company.
Swiss Post is diversifying the last mile with a new service, where its postal delivery officers read electricity meters. I talk with Christian Beyeler from Avectris, Swiss Post's technology partner for the project. Also in this episode: Cathy Morrow Roberson on Ukrainian postal operator Nova Poshta's new Chinese e-commerce deal, and DHL's great big new hub in Sydney.
There's a lot of hype about drone delivery, but are customers ready for drones to drop off their parcels? I talk with Jake Soffronoff from the USPS OIG, who has researched public attitudes towards drone delivery. Also in this episode: the new cross-border returns service from La Poste operating between Australia and France.
Let's kick off 2017 with a snapshot of some of the big trends in last mile delivery. My guest is Dean Maciuba, from the 4Front Consulting Group. We cover parcel locker networks in the USA, carrier specific lockers vs carrier neutral lockers, unattended delivery and the effect on shipping rates, porch piracy, network access points, and the future of home delivery.
Australia Post has signed a deal with supermarket chain Woolworths to install parcel lockers at 500 supermarkets. This will radically increase Australia Post's parcel locker network, but what are the other benefits? Also in this episode, the recent PUASP initiative to replace polluting vehicles with pushbikes and electric vehicles.
Royal Mail has implemented an e-commerce parcels returns portal. Roger Morris, Head of Parcels at Royal Mail, discusses how the returns portal helps e-commerce retailers and customers. Later in the podcast, Cathy Morrow Roberson and I discuss Amazon's expansion plans as well as the handling of bulky and heavy parcels.
Quantium Solutions CEO Sam Ang joins me to talk about Singapore Post's massive new e-commerce hub. It's more than just a parcel sorting centre - it's a fully-automated parcel sorting and warehouse facility.
What are Donald Trump's policy positions that will impact on trade, logistics, e-commerce, and the supply chain? Logistics expert Cathy Morrow Roberson analyses what the new US President will mean for transport and global trade.
Postal and parcel operators are preparing for the Christmas peak. Is hiring temporary staff the only option? I discuss some of the strategies Australia Post has in place to deliver huge volumes of parcels. Also in this episode, highlights from USPS's press conference following the release of USPS's full-year financials.
Insights into Transport Intelligence's recently released 2016 Global Express and Small Parcels report, covering competitors, market predictions, and cross-border deals. Also in this episode, coverage of UPS's recent financial results, Amazon's expansion plans, Aramex, some Amazon rumours, and Alibaba's earnings call.
Letter volumes are falling all around the world, and postal operators are striving for new ways to make the most of their delivery fleets. A team of researchers at the USPS Office of Inspector General investigated the smart cities concept and found ways that the postal service's delivery network could be used to collect data for smart city projects while doing deliveries.
Peter Somers, CEO and owner of e-commerce company SprintPack, joins me to analyse the latest news and trends in grocery delivery.
How is DPD putting the customer in control? DPD's Director of Sales and CRM, Elaine Kerr, details how DPD approaches delivery day, and how customers can interact with their DPD driver. Also in this episode, a logistics and postal industry news wrap-up with logistics expert Cathy Morrow Roberson from Logistics Trends & Insights.
Kiel Harkness, UPS's Director of Marketing UK Ireland and Nordics, and Gunnar Adalberth, Director of Business Development e-commerce at UPS, join me to talk about recent UPS e-commerce research and some of UPS's e-commerce initiatives. We cover cross-border, returns, parcel collection networks, growth into Asia, and much more.
Andrew Starkey from Spiral 4 / IMRG discusses recent research showing more online shoppers select express delivery compared to economy shipping. Why is this happening, and what does it mean for the delivery sector? Cathy Morrow Roberson discusses postal operators' forays into logistics, comparing An Post's new venture with DHL's partnerships with national posts. We also cover DB Schenker's deal with uShip, as well as UPS's drone tests.
An Post's Director of Mails, Liam O'Sullivan, discusses the new Post Logistics service. He gives the reasoning behind the launch, describes the target market, details the strategic partnership, and talks about the benefits to An Post.
Can the USPS become a logistics operator? The USPS OIG recently released a report addressing this question. Two of the report's authors join me, and we cover: what other posts have done in logistics; competition in last-mile delivery; e-commerce delivery bottlenecks; partnering with new delivery companies; returns and reverse logistics.
UPS Chief Alternative Fuel Engineer Mike Britt discusses UPS's One Billion Cleaner Miles project. We cover route optimisation, delivery to congestion zones, alternative-powered vehicles, emissions reductions and the fuel savings generated by the project. Also in this episode, a review of Australia Post's 2015-16 results, including plummeting letter volumes and Australia Post's turnaround from overall loss to overall profit.
Alibaba and Singapore Post are continuing to extend their reach beyond Asia. 4PX recently announced that it would be expanding into Australia under the TransRush banner. 4PX is part-owned by Alibaba and Singapore Post. Leading transport analyst Cathy Morrow Roberson from Logistics Trends and Insights joins me to analyse this move. Also in this episode, an overview of Canada Post's recent financials.
Lim Ann Nee, Senior Vice President SP Parcels, joins me to discuss SingPost's Rent-a-POP initiative. It's a new way to make money from parcel lockers. Also in this episode, USPS Postmaster General Megan Brennan and CFO Joe Corbett give an overview of recent USPS results, as well as the future of Sunday parcel deliveries.
Royal Mail's Community Investment Manager, Gary Grange, talks about Royal Mail's partnership with UK charity Missing People. Analyst Cathy Morrow Roberson from Logistics Trends and Insights joins me to dissect Amazon's plans to build up a fleet of 40 aircraft.
Swiss Post achieves consistently high first-time parcel delivery rates. But how? Walter Krieger, Swiss Post's Key Account Executive Mail-order, joins me to discuss this and much more, including the Swiss regulatory environment, rural vs urban delivery, letter and parcel volume trends, and cross-border e-commerce.
China-Japan cross-border e-commerce is forecast to explode. We analyse the driving forces behind the growth, including the role of the post. Also in this episode, Gina Mulligan, the founder of US charity Girls Love Mail, talks about how the hand-written letter can help breast cancer patients.
What will self-driving trucks mean for the transport and logistics sector? Logistics expert Cathy Morrow Roberson joins me to analyse the impact self-driving trucks will have on the current driver shortage and future driver recruitment. We discuss how self-driving trucks might improve productivity and driver health and safety. We also look at what lessons can be learned from the aviation sector.
A review of the various parcel delivery options Australia Post has introduced to increase first-time delivery rates. Includes the hits and the flops and the trials!
Liam O'Sullivan, An Post's Director of Mails, talks about DeliveryBox, the personal home locker solution. We also discuss other An Post initiatives to boost first-time parcel delivery rates.
Dog attacks are a daily risk for delivery drivers. Royal Mail's delivery drivers report about seven dog attacks a day across the UK. Now Royal Mail is trying to reduce the number of dog attacks through an annual public awareness campaign called "Dog awareness week". This sits alongside existing driver training.
We discuss crowd-sourced delivery, including bpost's new crowd-sourced delivery app, bringr, Amazon Flex and Uber RUSH. We also discuss post office access, including open hours, 24-hour post offices, Sunday opening, self-service terminals, and much more.
Grocery delivery to the door is nice, but how about delivery straight to your fridge? In this episode, Cathy Morrow Roberson from Logistics Trends and Insights joins me to talk about online grocery shopping and delivering those groceries to customers.
OSCAR, the UPU's new carbon reporting programme, has just been released. Anne-Claire Blet, the UPU's Expert for Environment and Sustainable Development, joins me to explain the project. Later in the podcast, Cathy Morrow Roberson from Logistics Trends and Insights discusses carbon neutral delivery.
As letter volumes fall and parcel volumes grow, what opportunities are there to combine letter and parcel delivery? In this episode, I briefly outline some of the key considerations for combining letter and parcel delivery. I also talk with Tim Ellison, the Deputy Director of the Postal Museum. The new museum is scheduled to open in London in 2017.
The US Postal Service recently released a report into how direct mail can be used to target millennial voters. Joining me to discuss this in depth is Brian G Denneny, the US Postal Service's Executive Director of Sales. Are millennials interested in mail? How does direct mail compare with other forms of political advertising? Cathy Morrow Roberson from Logistics Trends and Insights joins me to pore over the recently announced joint venture between Australia Post and Aramex.
The European Commission has announced a package of measures that it hopes will make it easier for consumers and companies to buy and sell products and services online across the EU. Postal and regulatory expert Joost Vantomme joins me to give a detailed breakdown of what the proposals will mean for the delivery sector. Cathy Morrow Roberson also joins me to discuss how 3D printing is disrupting the supply chain.
Australia Post has set up an online marketplace called Farmhouse Direct, which allows primary producers to sell directly to the public. We go behind the scenes with Australia Post's Viven Astle. Cathy Morrow Roberson from Logistics Trends & Insights discusses DHL's timed deliveries and UPS My Choice.
Money orders are dying, right? Maybe not. Research in the USA shows the money order has a future online and can play its part in e-commerce. In episode 15, Bryant Switzky from the USPS OIG joins me for an in-depth discussion of the future of money orders, and how some post offices are boosting money order sales. Cathy Morrow Roberson also joins me to talk about Amazon's fulfilment centres.
How can postal operators and major parcel operators respond to disruption in the delivery sector? Josh Rowe, CEO of RealAs, joins me for an in-depth discussion of the nature of innovation, in particular how it applies to the delivery sector.
Peter Somers, CEO and owner of e-commerce company SprintPack, discusses the key delivery issues in e-commerce.
The e-commerce delivery market is changing. The relationship dynamic between customers and delivery companies is shifting. Customers are becoming more aware of their delivery options, and are becoming more demanding.
Industry disruptor Uber is swiftly expanding beyond the traditional taxi cab business and taking on the delivery industry with UberRUSH. Will Uber disrupt the delivery market the same way it has the worldwide taxi industry? Joining me to discuss this is David Jinks from Parcel Hero.
Walter Trezek discusses terminal dues – including the imbalance in shipping rates that favours merchants based in some countries – along with the growth in cross-border e-commerce between western countries and south-east Asia, and how delivery is a key component of digital service infrastructure.
I give an overview of Australia Post's moved to a two-speed letters service, and the increase in price of the basic domestic stamp. Charles Prescott from the Global Address Data Association joins me to discuss addressing, monetising addressing, cross-border addressing, and more.
Dr Kristian Sund, founder of the Postal Research Network, joins the podcast to discuss postal strategy, postal research, e-substitution, management practices, competition between posts, and much more.
Fresh delivery is emerging as a key trend in the postal and delivery sectors. We review the market's major players and new entrants, as well as the practical considerations of entering the market. We also discuss postal strategy in the new digitally connected world, and how postal operators must change to remain relevant.
Amazon has acquired a French B2C delivery company, while Singapore Post has invested in an e-commerce company. What do these acquisitions mean for the postal, parcels and e-commerce sectors? Paul Needham from CEP Research joins me for an in-depth discussion.
What role does sustainability play in postal strategy? Derek Osborn discusses how postal thinking is changing, and how we can build a sustainable future for the post and the planet.
The proposed partial privatisation of Poste Italiane is the focus of Episode 4. Thomas Cullen from Transport Intelligence joins me to analyse the privatisation.
Episode 3 is all about the Internet of Things, and applications for the delivery sector. My guests are Alain Roset from La Poste, Richard Wishart from Delivery Management and Jeremy Cocks from Boxillion.
In Episode 2 I talk about Direct Mail with Kimberlee Wells from Whybin\TBWA and click-and-collect with Andrew Starkey from Spiral4/IMRG.
Episode 1 of the Postal Hub podcast, featuring analysis of FedEx's takeover of TNT Express, and e-commerce opportunities for franchised post offices