During a recent trip to Quebec City, I spotted a red Canadian mail truck. On the side, in white letters, below the French version, I read “Delivering the Online World.” What a great sentiment! Since I haven’t mailed or received anything in Quebec, I’m not sure how well they are keeping up with the claim, but let’s assume for a minute that they are. Think about the implications that has for their business. Rather than worrying about the demise of letters, they have grasped a more important concept- that which parcel delivery is an increasing part of our world. Especially in Canada, with it’s high percentage of rural customers (Canada delivers to a larger area than any other country, including Russia), who likely receive more parcels than their urban neighbors. Online retailers have a great delivery network that is easily leveraged to reach these consumers.
In an interesting proposal, Canada Post is also exploring so-called “community mailboxes,” as an alternative to door-to-door delivery for urban households. Located in a central area, the boxes are locked and serve as a drop area for all mail, including parcels, for urban consumers, similar to Amazon Lockers. “When you look at community mailboxes, and you know that people are shopping online and they’re not at home, or the kind of mail they’re going to get in the future is more drivers licences and health cards, it makes a lot more sense to have those in a locked box,” says Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton. These mailboxes are planned to be rolled out in the second half of 2014 and the transition will likely last till 2019. The Canadian Post Office suffered losses of $129 million last year, and is on track to lose $1 billion over the decade. The community mailbox is one part of a five-point plan to turnaround revenue. It will be interesting to watch and see if their slogan holds true. Stay tuned!