Post Office launches `Shop by Mail' service

By Lenah Susianty

BANDUNG, West Java (JP): Indonesia will officially partake of its mail order service for the first time tomorrow.

Belanja lewat pos, or shopping by mail, will be one of the most recent programs of the state-owned postal service Perusahaan Umum Pos dan Giro (PPG). The new service will include the operation of leased aircraft to cater to hard-to-reach areas, particularly those in the eastern provinces.

"As an initial step our mail order target will be middle to lower class buyers outside Jakarta," PPG's president Marsoedi told The Jakarta Post recently.

He said there are potential markets outside Jakarta which need quality goods but find them unavailable there.

"We do not cater to those who live in Jakarta because they are usually shopping-minded and in Jakarta they can easily go to malls and supermarkets," said Lies Kurniasih, president of PT Surya Jati Hutama.

PT Surya Jati Hutama is a subsidiary of Panutan group which has been appointed by PPG to operate the service and supply the goods.

She said that basically most Jakartans are not interested in the service. "For example, every time I myself receive a catalog of goods offered as a supplement service by my credit card agency, I tear it up without first reading it."

However she is optimistic that people outside Jakarta will welcome the service. Lies added that as a first step the company has offered such merchandise as office stationery and bags, as well as other consumer goods.

"We have issued two kinds of catalogs and sent them to around 30,000 potential buyers. We obtained their addresses from local post offices' databases," she explained.

"Since all the data is produced by local post offices there is very little chance that we will overlook any potential buyers even though they live in isolated areas," said Lies.

The data groups the potential buyers under several categories such as students, professionals, house wives, etc.

The service, which unofficially started late last month, is currently offering 50 kinds of goods with prices ranging from Rp 10,000 (US$4.59) to Rp 200,000 ($91.99).

Most of the merchandise costs below Rp 100,000. Lies pointed out, "the only item costing Rp 200,000 that we are selling now are genuine leather bags. Actually our prices are 10 to 20 percent lower than normal market prices."

In the future, the company will issue new catalogs every four months. The prospective market will be extended to the higher class group and some Jakartans.

"To cater to well-to-do buyers we will cooperate with companies which hold licenses to produce such famous brand names as Calvin Klein," Lies explained.

"As for Jakartans, we will focus on providing them with handicrafts," she said.

For the time being, PT Surya Jati Hutama is acting as a supplier instead of as a producer which directly markets its products by mail, a system used in the United States, one of the countries which pioneered the service.

"There is the possibility for us to cooperate with a company to produce certain goods," she stressed.

Incentives

To build an effective selling network system, the service will involve 3,821 post offices in small and big towns and subdistricts all over the country. The 3,821 post offices have access to around 5,179 other existing post office units, consisting of 868 village post offices, 221 extension post office units, 458 city mobile post offices, 2,463 village mobile post offices, 442 cashier post units and 609 village post units.

"Buyers who have chosen goods they want can go to the nearest post office, pay there and the post office will send the order to our company on the same day. Within three days the merchandise will be delivered to buyers who live in Java. Those living outside Java will have to wait one week," Lies said.

Small outlets of the mail-order service will be established in most post offices which will act as marketing and quality control agents. Goods to be channeled by the nearest post offices should pass the control units. Should anything happen to the goods -- such as damage -- they will be returned to PT Surya Jati Hutama.

"Therefore, we will also provide incentives for post offices which sell the most in terms of quantity and in terms of the most expensive goods," she said.

Cooperating with post offices is a very efficient gesture or, as stated by Lies, "a mutual advantage." The company has a channel to market their goods even to the most remote areas, and post offices will create a better image by safely delivering all merchandise to the buyers' doors. This is quite a tall order because even though the postal service is considered one of the most well-managed state-owned firms in the country, there are still complaints of lost or damaged goods.

"This is a new thing for us, so please inform me if there are any problems or complaints. We are willing to improve it," Marsoedi said.