No More Door-To-Door Delivery?
Canada Post has recently announced that it will be making changes to its delivery service. The planned changes will include the phasing out of door to door delivery as well as the introduction of community mail boxes. There will also be an increase in postage stamps from 63 cents to $1. However, to make postal services more accessible for customers, Canada Post plans to open up more outlet offices.
The primary reason driving this change is the fact that there has been a rapid decline in the use of postal services. Since 2006, approximately one billion fewer pieces of mail have been delivered by Canada Post as people are now choosing to use email and online payment services instead of regular post. This has resulted in a decline in Canada Post’s revenues thus forcing it to change its strategy. It is being forecasted that Canada Post will lose nearly $1 billion by 2020. In light of such dire projections, Canada Post has decided to alter its mode of operation.
The way people use mail has changed. Nowadays, people use regular post more for sending parcels rather than letters. The use of community mailboxes is already implemented in town home communities and apartments and applying this method to other households should work out well for everyone overall.
While this may be good news for Canada Post, reaction from the general public has not been entirely positive. According to a survey, 73% of customers who currently receive door-to-door delivery were against these changes. It is important to keep in mind however that this 73% comprises of only one-third of Canadians who still receive door to door delivery while two-thirds are already using community mailboxes.
Small businesses may be the ones who would be most affected by these changes. This is because most businesses still use regular mail to send out cheques, bills and paper invoices. While community mailboxes versus door to door delivery may be easily acceptable for an average customer, small businesses on the other hand still use postal services regularly. Businesses that use postage meters will see an increase in their postal costs. A large number of small businesses buy stamps in bulk but because of the planned increase in stamp costs, their costs will definitely increase.
Despite the changes in how people use mail, three quarters of Canadians still use personal cheques. Data indicates that cheque users write approximately 6 to 20 cheques a year and still mail out cheques for bill payments, membership fees, monetary gifts and other service bills. The proposed changes by Canada Post are expected to be implemented over the next five years and the specific impact on an average customer and a small business is likely to be seen during this time.
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