The purchasing behavior of Swedish e-commerce customers differs from the prevailing practices in Finland and the Baltic countries. In these countries, consumers prefer to receive their items directly to a Parcel Point, whereas in Sweden, parcels are typically collected from postal outlets.
Another trend is that, nowadays, large online stores tend to choose specialist delivery service providers instead of companies that offer comprehensive end-to-end solutions. Analyzing the purchasing behavior of consumers has become an important success factor on different markets.
Posti opened a sales office in Sweden one and a half years ago to serve Swedish and international businesses that sell their products to Finland and the Baltic countries.
- Swedish online stores send a large number of parcels to Finland every day, says Håkan Ohlin, Business Development Manager at Posti. He works at the Posti sales office in Sundbyberg, Sweden.
- In Finland, Posti symbolizes strong values, such as safety and flexibility.
Posti dominates the Finnish B2B and B2C delivery markets, he continues.
Posti's delivery system includes approximately 500 Parcel Points in strategically wise locations, such as shopping centers and other central and busy places. Posti also offers more than 900 postal outlets, pick-up points and, of course, home delivery services. Delivering items directly to stores and companies is also an important service.
Parcel Points have become a huge success in Finland, and the majority of consumers want to collect their online store purchases from a Parcel Point. An added benefit of Parcel Points is that customers can use them to return products to stores. Parcel Points are also frequently used on Saturdays.
- Consumers are no longer tied to one pick-up location that is determined by their postal code, but they can pick up their parcels, for example, on the way to the office or near their summer cottage, Håkan Ohlin says.
Posti has taken its services one step further and introduced parcel pigeonholes or SmartPosts in the corridors of apartment buildings.
- Parcel pigeonholes are convenient because consumers no longer have to worry about lead times or leave their house in order to collect their goods from an outlet. Posti has been innovative and utilized new information on e-commerce. Many large enterprises in Swedish B2B and B2C sectors have selected Posti as their supplier because of the company's reliable reputation, Håkan Ohlin says.
The original story was published in the Aditro Logistics magazine in spring 2017.