Postal firm sees fewer customers

Postal firm sees fewer customers

Antara, Yogyakarta

With e-mail is just a click away and SMS a popular means to
communicate, sending Idul Fitri greetings by regular mail is a
thing of the past.

And this Idul Fitri, postal company PT Pos Indonesia has felt
the bite.

The company's deputy head in Yogyakarta, Rahmat Gumilar, said
the decline was mostly due to a drop in individual customers. "So
we are trying to focus our marketing now on corporate or
institution customers," Rahmat said.

He said that corporate and institution customers still
preferred to send Idul Fitri greetings and letters by regular
mail rather than sending them by SMS or e-mail.

In the last five years, he added, the number of Idul Fitri
cards being sent by mail in the province had declined by 10
percent a year.

"The declining trend is not just for Idul Fitri cards, but for
letters and other types of mail. In this case, if we do nothing,
PT Pos Indonesia cannot survive," Rahmat said.

He said while the company shifted its marketing focus to
corporate and institution customers, individual customers would
be left to the market since the company considered it would be
hard to increase the number of individual customers.

Promotions to attract more individual customers, he said, were
not an option as the cost and effort outweighed the benefits.

One of the company's efforts, he said, was to offer special
services, like Pos Express and one-day delivery services.

The company, he added, also cooperated with other government
institutions and companies in providing delivery services, such
as the arrangement with Sleman administration in Yogyakarta where
the company helped in mailing letters and tax reports.

Customers could also pay their phone bill or pay off a loan
through the company, he said.

In spite of the situation, Rahmat expressed optimism the
company would survive, especially since the rapid development in
technology could not replace the need for delivery services, like
for important documents. "Even in a developed country like the
U.S., postal services are still needed," he said.