The Hindu Business Line : Indian address beckons Swiss Post

Swiss Post expands abroad by working in beneficial partnerships with sales agents or franchise partners. The Asian markets are growing and we are interested to further grow with them.

DANIEL BAETTIG, DIRECTOR, SWISS POST INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT LTD

Shubhra Tandon

While the international players in the express and courier industry are eyeing India as a potential market, some good news is in the offing for the Indian postal market as well. In an e-mail interview, the Director of Switzerland’s national post Swiss Post International Management Ltd, Mr Daniel Baettig, talks about the recently signed partnership with Mumbai-based Mail Order Solutions for gaining a foothold in India.

Excerpts from the interview:

What attracted Swiss Post to India now, when the country already has international players such as DHL, FedEx and UPS capturing a large chunk of the market? Isn’t it too late in the day?

Everywhere where Swiss Post is are also our competitors, such as DHL. Please note, though, that outside Switzerland we are not active in the CEP (courier, express, parcel) market. Therefore, companies active in CEP, such as FedEx and UPS, are not our competitors in India or anywhere else outside Switzerland.

Swiss Post’s core competence and core business is the cross-border mail market. The competition in this market is more and more about quality. Internationally active companies know that punctual and reliable dispatch, quick delivery times and professional response handling win them customers. As a Swiss company we know a lot about quality. As a postal company we have decades of experience in handling mail.

Given that India already has international brands in the express and logistics space, what will be Swiss Post’s strategy to establish itself in the market?

We offer potential customers a competent worldwide logistic network. Swiss Post dispatches mail for business customers into more than 200 countries. India is now one of our five representations in Asia. We have been in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong since 2003. In Shanghai, we started a successful co-operation with a sales agent in 2006. Swiss Post has been growing since 1996 and is present in Europe, Asia and the US with (over 30) own subsidiaries and associated partners. We clearly focus on efficiency, quality, reliability and experience.

Please elaborate on your partnership with MOS and the reasons for choosing it as a sales agent.

Mail Order Solutions was a direct marketing (DM) pioneer in India. Today it offers end-to-end solutions for international customers. MOS is one of the largest DM providers in India, processing 5.5 million personalised mailings for customers abroad every month. Around two million mailings are produced each month for domestic clients. Like Swiss Post, MOS has profound experience in its business and delivers high quality.

What are the investments that you are doing for the market, both financially and in the physical space (depots, outlets, warehouses (if any), trucks, etc)? What are your revenue projections for the first couple of years of operation?

The co-operation makes Swiss Post a postal partner for both MOS existing and future international mail business. We dispatch their volumes internationally and don’t need any physical space for this. Neither do we collect volumes from MOS’s customers and therefore do not need trucks or vehicles. Our contributions are intangible assets such as the worldwide network access, mail product development, bespoke software and the “Swiss Post” brand. Since our investments in tangible assets are near to zero, we are able to monitor the promising market development and profit from it as it develops further.

Currently, how many places are you looking to connect in India through MOS and, going forward, what are your expansion plans? Do you also plan to set up an office in India and when?

With MOS as our Sales Agent, we do have an office in India. The transport of customers’ mailing volumes within India to MOS and from there to hubs is already today done by MOS.

In India, currently, the express and logistics companies are expanding network and reach through acquiring small players. Who are the ones you would be looking at?

We don’t intend to start doing business in the domestic market of India. In India, there is currently a monopoly on domestic and international shipments of up to 200 gm.

Who are the other players in the industry that you are in talks with for expanding your reach? Are there any exclusive tie-ups that you would be looking at with the Indian postal department or any other courier and express company in India?

Swiss Post is a national Post just like India Post. Both are already partners by the worldwide contract of the Universal Postal Union.

Swiss Post expands abroad by looking for and working in beneficial partnerships with sales agents or franchise partners. In Asia, we are now present in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, in China (Shanghai) and in India. The Asian markets are growing and we are interested to further grow with them.

How will you do the actual transportation of cargo? Would you be using the belly space offered by passenger airlines or have you tied up with some full freighter airlines for the same. Could you name the carriers?

Currently, we use commercial airlines for air freighting the mail shipment into Zurich or Singapore. For Zurich, we use Swiss Air Cargo, which has daily flights. For Singapore, there are multiple choices of airlines, including Jet Air, Air India and Singapore Airlines.

What is the size of the express and logistics market between Europe and India (financial as well as volumes) and what part of it would you be looking to capture?

As mentioned earlier, we are not active in the express and logistics market between Europe and India but focused on the cross-border mail market.

In the Indian cross-border mail market, we compete with Spring, DHL Mail and Indian Post.

How will an end consumer make use of Swiss Post facility in India, give an example. How are you marketing Swiss Post in India and spreading the word around for the company?

Swiss Post customers are merely business customers who give us their volumes of daily business mail, direct marketing mail, international magazines and newspapers or small consignments for dispatch. These potential customers will be approached by the competent sales people of MOS. The end consumer, like in many other countries, will use the national Postal organisation.

More Stories on : Interview | Supply Chain Management

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Passenger transport in big cities — Not enough competition for smooth mobility

‘We are selling more tickets in India than in China’

Indian address beckons Swiss Post

Jet, Air Deccan, JetLite likely to fly Dubai soon