25-06-2020

Nine people out of ten have received a postal parcel over the past six months, the parcel service market growth potential survey by Kantar Emor reveals. The year before, the number of parcel receivers was a third of the population. The number of courier service users has increased considerably.

The increased contact with parcel services is surely due to the two-month state of emergency during which normal commerce was largely closed down. “Ordering goods home or to the nearest parcel machine turned out to be the convenient and often also the only solution for people who were staying home due to the movement restrictions,” Kantar Emor survey specialist Mari-Ann Ploom said. Ordering postal parcels has increased the most among the elderly, people living in rural areas and also entrepreneurs.

Based on the number of delivered parcels, the share of parcel machine service is on the parcel service market as a whole nearly three times larger than that of courier service – 76 percent of the delivered parcels are shipped using parcel machine and 24 percent using couriers. In 2019 the ratio was similar. At the same time, the number of courier service users has significantly increased over the past year. In 2019, 27 percent of population had used courier service for receiving a parcel, but this year as much as 45 percent of people have received a parcel from a courier.

Omniva’s parcel machines remain the leader of the market with increasing force. Itella SmartPOST is in a strong second following Omniva. DPD Pickup remains the one with the greatest growth potential. If we consider the strength of the emotional relationship, i.e. brand strength of the current service providers in addition to the market strength, then Omniva’s parcel machines and SmartPOST are currently equal service providers with the strongest brand strength. Itella SmartPOST has the best image when it comes to delivery speed and reliability. Omniva stands out on the market with clearly the best parcel machine network, as well as having the best image with parcel machine locations near homes and on the commuting track.

Parcel machine selection is strongly affected by the location of the parcel machines and due to the state of emergency, parcel machine location near homes became more important, as well as its positioning outside/outdoors to ensure health safety. “These advantages of Omniva’s parcel machine service helped to increase the market strength of the service provider in the state of emergency,” Ploom explained.

1,245 Estonian residents aged 18–74 participated in the web survey conducted between 29.04 and 06.05.

Source: Omniva