Electronic communication is an indispensable part of everyday life, particularly for those of us who, for want of a better phrase, work with computers. Look at it this way – when was the last time you sent a good old-fashioned letter to a friend, relative or colleague?
All well and good; unless you work in the postal sector, of course. But fear not – Internet to the rescue! That’s the verdict of Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur, BNetzA) at least. In its progress report to the Bundestag parliament for 2010/2011, the BNetzA revealed that online sales have provided a shot in the arm to the postal industry.
The report, weighing in at a hefty 110 pages, says:
“In both the letter and parcel markets, the decline in mail volume and revenues caused by the crisis is being checked. In some cases it is already approaching 2009 levels again. This is especially true for the German parcel market. The boom in mail order trade over the Internet in particular has led to a remarkable rise in packages to private customers. There is expected to be a significant increase in package volume for the year 2011. Further growth potential arises from the increasingly important cross-border trade and the growing Internet trade.”
Sales in non-licensed postal services and postal-related transportation services increased to €18.8 billion in 2010, according to the report. Indeed, it later describes the boom in Internet-related deliveries as the “growth engine for the postal industry.”
In fact, half of purchase orders are processed over the Internet – “ordering goods over the Internet is becoming increasingly popular among customers and consumer behaviour has now changed permanently.”
So well done everyone for doing your bit for the German economy by doing all your Christmas shopping online last year!