More and more goods are bought online and delivered by post – last year the e-commerce market in Switzerland grew by more than 7 percent. In line with this development, customers are demanding more convenience from Swiss Post when shopping online and, above all, individualized delivery. The more options customers have for parcel delivery, the higher the probability that they will receive the ordered goods at the requested time and at a place of their choice.

Online retailers are finding that customer retention is becoming ever more important due to intensely competitive market growth. In online retail this applies primarily to service and attractive delivery conditions. Swiss Post is continually developing its services to meet the needs of online retailers and private customers and will be introducing new services this autumn.

Simplicity for online shopping – individualized delivery

An important component of the new services is a single customer login that allows customers to make purchases at a variety of online shops. With just one click, their customer profile with personal delivery addresses will be available for online shopping. Customers then only need one username and one password for various online shops. Entering personal data in the individual shops will no longer be necessary. If online retailers strive for an exclusive Swiss Post login solution, they can save the managing of user accounts and can offer their customers greater convenience. In the course of 2016 Swiss Post will also launch individual management of parcels and registered letters. As soon as a consignment is on its way, the customer can use a consignment cockpit on the Swiss Post website to select whether the consignment should be delivered to a home address or to an alternative address. In addition, customers will in future be able to set their personal delivery preferences in this cockpit: they can determine where and when their parcels and registered letters are delivered – for example at home on Monday, a work address on Tuesday, a parcel terminal on Wednesday, etc.

A wider choice of delivery

To provide customers with a wider choice of delivery in the future, Swiss Post is extending its services at off-peak times in the evening and on Saturdays. For example, customers can now request a second attempted delivery in the evening for missed consignments. In October Swiss Post will also start testing delivery on Sunday. The test will take place in the cities of Zurich, Geneva, Lausanne and Basel. The network of My Post 24 terminals and services available will also be expanded. Since June 2015, Swiss Post has been installing terminals at SBB train stations. Registered letters can now be collected from terminals and also signed for at the terminal.

Using these measures Swiss Post wants to help develop the e-commerce market with the goal of making e-commerce simpler and more individual for online retailers and private customers alike.