What is the situation in Poland?
It has been known for several years that Poczta Polska (Polish Post) recognizes the importance of e-commerce activities (as evidenced, for example, by the inclusion of an autonomous business unit in the area of new technologies in the company’s development strategy). However, so far, the offer of the Polish operator, compared to the expansion presented by its Western competitors, is rather modest.
Certain symptoms of changes in this situation may be the “postal telegram” service introduced in October 2002 and the activities of Postal Online Stores.
The “postal telegram” is Poczta Polska’s response to the fact that TP SA discontinued the traditional telegram (Fig. 1). The implementation of the service is based on the existing postal WAN IT infrastructure, which currently connects nearly half of the over 8,000 branches. Ultimately, the WAN network is to connect all Poczta Polska service points. The postal telegram is a substitute for hybrid mail. The form with the telegram content filled out by the customer (eventually, the text will be able to be sent from a home computer or via SMS) is encrypted at the post office, converted into electronic form, and then sent via the WAN network. The recipient of the telegram is the Operational Management Service (SZO – the unit handling the delivery of EMS-Pocztex courier shipments). The decrypted telegram, converted into a paper version, is delivered by a Poczta Polska courier to the indicated address (eventually, delivery will take place via e-mail or SMS).
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2003/4.