Online trading is currently the only way for operators of closed shops to generate sales. But now, of all times, Swiss Post is restricting its delivery offer for oversized items. Alternatives are therefore in demand.
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Swiss Post is currently delivering a large number of parcels – but for the time being it is oversized, it is no longer being transported by oversized ones.
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Swiss Post is currently transporting as many parcels as it usually did before Christmas. However, the company has to cope with the parcel flood with significantly fewer staff. On Wednesday, 2300 employees were reported sick at the post office, 65 of them tested positive for Sars-CoV-2. Almost 2500 other employees are on paid leave: they stay away from work because they belong to the risk group for the virus or have to look after their children.
Hiring additional personnel at short notice hardly solves the capacity problems: Due to the strict hygiene and social distancing regulations, many tasks in sorting and delivery can only be carried out by individual people and with the necessary distance.
In order to guarantee basic postal services, the yellow giant has been given the green light by the federal government to relax the legally required requirements. The opening times of the branches were shortened and some branches even closed. At the same time, Swiss Post needs more time to deliver parcels and letters due to the lack of personnel.
Meanwhile, displeasure is caused by the fact that Swiss Post is also restricting the delivery of bulky parcels. Only goods are delivered that can be transported in compliance with the social distancing rules. Many garden items, furniture, lamps, fitness equipment and televisions cannot be delivered via the parcel post channel as before.
Provider at the capacity limit
Due to the change in practice at Swiss Post, oversized goods are now jammed in the stores of some retailers – and cannot be delivered or can only be delivered with a delay. “Many retailers are desperately looking for alternatives,” says Patrick Kessler, President of the Association of Swiss Mail Order Merchants (VSV). Since the providers are working at the capacity limit, the situation is tense. The fact that other postal service providers take over those items that cannot be transported by the post office is often not an option because they too have already reached the capacity limit.
Marc Bolliger of the digital delivery network Pickwings explains that many retailers affected by the restriction of the postal service have asked his company for immediate help. In normal operation, the company processes thousands of deliveries every day. “Our delivery volume has quadrupled since last week,” says Bolliger.
The entrepreneur is sharply criticizing Swiss Post’s approach. He accuses the federal enterprise of abandoning Swiss retail, of all places, where retailers would have to switch to online retail due to the closure of their stores. According to Bolliger, there are enough couriers and drivers available to compensate for the post freeze in the area of bulky goods. “If Swiss Post had tried to talk to us and the Swiss transport companies, we could have reacted together and offered their customers solutions.” Instead, the trade was faced with fait accompli.
The post defends itself. Your concern with the delivery restriction in bulky goods is to protect the staff. “Only if the employees stay healthy will we be able to provide people in Switzerland in the coming weeks and months,” said spokeswoman Léa Wertheimer. In order to attune the trade to the changes in delivery, Swiss Post convened a round table last Friday in which various trading companies took part. It was also discussed with the customers to carry out quantity planning together in order to break the peaks somewhat.
Digitec delays
On request, affected online retailers are reluctant to change the practice of Swiss Post. Customers could order bulky goods as usual, says a spokesman for Digitec Galaxus, the industry leader in Switzerland. However, there may be delays. The Migros subsidiary now sends oversized shipments as general cargo, as in classic furniture transport. That makes the delivery more expensive. However, the company bears the additional costs itself.
A spokesman for the Aargau competitor Brack.ch explains that he has changed providers for the shipment of bulky goods. But you expect to be able to maintain delivery quality and delivery times. At Mediamarkt, on the other hand, it is said that you deliver bulky items yourself. That is why one is not affected by the changed delivery conditions of Swiss Post.
Various providers are now trying to give their customers alternatives to home delivery. One solution in which they do not even have to use the overloaded logistics networks is the so-called “Click & Collect”: the customer picks up the goods ordered online himself. The Federal Council permits this delivery variant provided that the customer does not enter any shop space and that no money flows from one person to another on site.
Ikea starts pick-up service
The first companies have already started to introduce such “Click & Collect” solutions. For a few days now, customers of the Ikea furniture store have been able to pick up their orders in the parking garages or on the outside of the closed centers. If you want to have your goods delivered to your home as a package, you currently have to be patient for 24 days.
Assistance: Andrea Martel
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