02-12-2015
- 2m returned items logged at the end of the third quarter 2015
- More than 215,000 return labels created through the system in September 2015
- Ten authorising posts and around 30 accepting posts in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America
Brussels, 03 December 2015 – The International Post Corporation (IPC) Common Return Platform has reached 2m returned items at the end of the third quarter 2015.
The returns solution has been a great success and is gaining ever more traction worldwide: in September 2015, over 215,000 labels were created – on par with the yearly average for the first four years of the solution. Moreover, the number of items returned during first three quarters of 2015 (891,278) almost equalled the number of items returned during the previous four years (1,109,245).
Five years ago, IPC created the IPC Easy Return Solution together with five European posts. Since then, the solution has evolved due to market needs and now supports several international mail networks – EPG, KPG, PRIME, INTERCONNECT and UPU parcels – under the IPC Common Return Platform (CRP), which was launched two years ago.
The Common Return Platform provides a return service enabling postal operators to collaborate on returning cross-border parcels to e-retailers. In simple terms, it allows e-customers in country A to return goods to e-sellers in country B. The service allows authorised returns to be accepted at postal counters without payment, and then returned through the postal network to the e-seller which authorised the return.
The e-seller provides the e-customer with a postage-paid return label. All the e-customer needs to do is to drop the unwanted purchase at a post office or indicated facility together with the dedicated label provided by the e-seller attached to the parcel. The labels are generated by IPC in a direct interface with authorising posts using the Common Return Platform.
About half of the labels created by the platform end up in a real item being returned, as some e-sellers include return labels together with the original shipment just in case their customers want to make a return.
The service has grown from the five original participating posts – bpost, Deutsche Post DHL, Le Groupe La Poste, Royal Mail Group and PostNL – to ten authorising posts and around 30 accepting posts in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America.
The success of the solution is no surprise, as research shows that having an easy returns solution is one of the key requirements for consumers making cross-border online purchases.
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International Post Corporation (IPC) is the leading service provider of the global postal industry that provides leadership by driving service quality, interoperability and business-critical intelligence to support posts in defending existing business and expanding into new growth areas. It is a cooperative association of 24 member postal operators in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. IPC’s solutions and services are used by over 180 posts worldwide. Since 1989 IPC has set standards for upgrading quality and service performance and developed technological solutions that help members enhance service for international letters, packets and parcels. IPC engages in industry research, creates business-critical intelligence, provides a range of platforms and programmes for member post CEOs and senior management to exchange best practices and discuss strategy. IPC also manages the system for incentive-based payments between postal operators.
For more information, please contact
Eva Wouters
PR & Media Relations Manager
International Post Corporation
+32 2 724 71 91
[email protected]