Service-oriented - Die Schweizerische Post

over a period of two years. Swiss Post
expects this step to be taken without any
redundancies. As of 2009, Swiss Post
looks set to improve its annual results by
just over 50 million francs thanks to
Ymago.
Non-postal articles and services
Whereas revenues from the basic postal
service declined, Swiss Post was able to
consolidate its position as a provider of
non-postal articles such as bicycle and
motorway permits, computers and office
and stationery items and compensate for
some of the network costs.
With mobile phones, competitive pressure
in a market that is saturated at a high level
led to a steady decline in prices,
accentuated by the market entry of Coop
and Migros. Thanks to higher sales compared
with the previous year, Swiss Post
was able to defend both its sales and
its profit. It was able to gain a foothold in
the market for MP3 players, despite the
dissolution of its strategic partnership
with Apple. The launch of new products
such as the Sony Connect Card for music
downloads was also a contributing factor.
The range of books – which changes
each month – proved especially popular.
A basic range of stationery articles did
well. A range of seasonal items, such as
travel accessories, also met with a positive
response.
Building on the successful distribution of
life insurance products, the post offices
have been offering additional insurance
products such as motor vehicle, household,
liability or legal expenses insurance
since 1 March 2006. Short-term travel
insurance can be taken out directly at the
post office counter.
The cooperation with Ticketcorner was
very gratifying. Customers made good
use of the service, which was launched at
the beginning of 2006, and ticket sales
rose steadily. Sales were expanded to
1.000 post offices in August. The cooperation
with the Mobility CarSharing
scheme also proved fruitful. Express registration
at the 78 PostShops that offer the
Mobility service was particularly popular.
The “PostShop Online” service, which
was launched in autumn 2005, has developed
into a genuine success story. The
new online shopping service expands the
limited space at the post offices into
a virtual shopping centre. At the end of
2006, PostShop Online already had a
wide range of over 500.000 articles.
A door-opener for the whole of
Swiss Post
With a network of around 2.500 post
offices, Swiss Post creates physical proximity
to its customers. This local presence
is a key strategic success factor for the
other business units too. Since the beginning
of 2006, the Post Offices Network
Annual Report | Service-oriented Verantwortungsbewusst
| Post Office Network
29
has stepped up its support for small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in order
to improve customer relations with them.
PostMail and PostLogistics in particular
benefit from the newly established 221
SME support units. The nationwide post
office network continues to play an important
role for the successful distribution
of financial services too. irect consulting
services via video and the telephone are
planned for several hundred post offices.
In addition, customers will be able to
open and access an account directly at
the counter. 7
Outlook
evelopments in the next few years will
be shaped by the implementation of
Ymago. The internal distribution of tasks
between post offices is being reorganized
in 2007. Around 200 agencies based on
the new model will be set up by the end
of 2008.
7 See also the “Innovative” chapter, page 36.
Read more online
www.swisspost.ch/ar2006links
4) Overview of Swiss Post’s universal services
5) Swiss Post’s basic service; terms and definitions
8) Post office network: the only constant is change
99) Figures for the 2006 Annual Report
Key figures – Post Office Network
Quality
2006 2005
Customer satisfaction: private customers Index 87 86
Customer satisfaction: SMEs
Cover
Index 81 80
Post offices Number 2493 2531
Post offices with payment transactions Number 2345 2379
Post offices without payment transactions Number 12 10
Agencies with payment transactions Number 111 119
Agencies without payment transactions Number 18 16
PostMobil stops Number 7 7
Home-delivery service Localities 1023 991
Additional key figures are set out in the table of figures. ( 99)