24 national posts to establish global e-commerce delivery...

[TrueBlueTerrier]

24 national posts to establish global e-commerce delivery network

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A group of 24 postal companies from around the world have launched a new programme that aims to establish a fully interconnected network for shipping e-commerce products across borders.

The programme was agreed by members of the International Post Corporation at a meeting of their chief executives in Washington last month.

The IPC membership comprises some of the biggest national postal services in the world, including the US Postal Service, Deutsche Post, Poste Italiane, Royal Mail and La Poste Group.

It also includes the national postal services of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The IPC revealed this week that the new IPC e-Commerce Interconnect Programme will offer a global shipping platform with full track and trace capabilities offering end-to-end visibility to retailers and consumers alike.

The platform will provide retailers with a choice of end-to-end delivery times and features, and a cross-border returns solution allowing consumers to ship unwanted items back.

The IPC, a Brussels-based group of cooperating postal companies, said ultimately the project aims to provide consumers with the same kind of shopping and delivery experience when buying online from retailers in other countries as they would expect when buying from domestic retailers.

Integration

Herbert-Michael Zapf, the IPC President and CEO, said the programme would help IPC members create the best conditions to meet the demands of consumers and businesses, and tap into the “booming” cross-border e-commerce market.

He explained: “The IPC e-Commerce Interconnect Programme aims at removing the barriers which prevent consumers and businesses, in particular SMEs from selling and buying online cross-border, and at enhancing cross-border delivery. A greater integration of postal delivery networks will not only reinforce posts’ role in e-Commerce but also contribute to further boosting cross-border e-Commerce, hence contributing to economic growth as a whole.”

The IPC said that cross-border e-commerce is expected to grow by 75% by 2020, but consumer surveys currently show that consumers and retailers looking to venture abroad face difficulties including a lack of visibility in the shipping system and the complexity of return and delivery solutions.

The new programme will build on the existing e-parcel group of 31 postal operators, coordinated by IPC, which offers a harmonised customer services and returns solution, including tracking capabilities.

The IPC said their members would join the new programme by the end of this year, and the platform should be fully operational by the end of 2014.

An agreement with European postal network PostEurop should also see its European postal operators joining the programme, the IPC said.