In February 2016, the prices of Posti’s cash services to consumers will undergo changes.
In cash services offered to consumers, Posti will move entirely to the pricing model used commonly in Europe, in which all domestic and foreign letter items have their own fees. There will also be price increases in other cash-paid postal services.
The underlying reason for this is the radical decrease in the number of postal items. As a result, the fewer items there are to deliver, the higher the delivery costs of an individual item. Finnish households spend, on average, approximately 30 euros a year on sending cards, letters and parcels, so the increase per household amounts to two to three euros.
Posti is improving the efficiency of its operations in many ways in order to curb costs and offers its customers online and mobile postal services that are available anytime and anywhere.
“Around the world, it is common that domestic and foreign letter items have their own fees in all weight classes. Now we will also change the fee for the lowest weight class abroad so that it better corresponds with the costs,” says Ulla Seppälä, Director at Posti.
For international letter items, the price of a letter or card weighing 20 grams or less will be €1.30 for Priority and €1.20 for Economy. Stamps for letters abroad (€1.30) will be published on February 26. The 1st and 2nd class no-value indicator stamps can also be used for sending letters abroad with an additional 10-cent stamp.
The most common postage fees will change on February 15, 2016. The price of a domestic 1st class stamp will increase to €1.20 (from €1.10) and the price of a 2nd class stamp to €1.10 (from €1.00).
The prices of Posti’s forwarding, mail delivery interruption and parcel services will also change. The price of the postal parcel which weighs up to 2 kg and is sent from a Posti outlet will be €8.10 (formerly €7.90). The price of the most inexpensive parcel—an S-sized parcel sent from a Parcel Point or by using online self service—will be €7.10 after the change (formerly €6.90).
The price increases are attributable to the rapid decline in the delivery volumes of postal items due to digital communications becoming more common. In January–September 2015, the volume of addressed letters decreased by 7 percent from the previous year. Postage fees must cover the costs of item collection, transport, sorting and delivery. Despite the measures taken to improve efficiency, costs cannot be reduced to fully correspond with the reduction in volume.
Many postal services are available as online or mobile services. Electronic services make life easier for consumers.
Most small items sent by consumers are considered parcels and thus include Item Tracking. Customers appreciate the ease of receiving and knowledge about the location of the items at each particular moment. At the moment, Posti has 1,400 service points across Finland. Among the new services, My Pickup Point (directing a parcel to the most convenient pickup point) has proven to be a popular mobile service. Parcel Points are used by people of all ages and they are also popular among the users of online flea markets. A parcel label can also be printed out online, and the parcel can be dropped off at a Posti outlet.
Netposti has approximately 630,000 recipient customers, and it has established itself as a consumer-preferred way to receive mail electronically. Invoices and salary slips, for example, are available at Netposti anytime and anywhere.
In the whirlwind of digitization, a postcard warms your heart. “In fact, the postcard is now more significant than ever as the messages it carries stand out more and more clearly as digital communications increase,” says Laura Luoma, Senior Marketing Manager at Posti.
One of the year’s most popular postcard seasons, second only to Christmas, is just around the corner. In Finland, Valentine’s Day is specifically a celebration of friendship, not so much of romance. “For us Finns, a postcard is a suitable means to express things that are not easy to say. A Valentine’s Day card is a messenger of emotions,” notes Luoma.
More information on consumer services and prices: posti.fi/prices and Posti Customer Service.
Stamps may be purchased at approximately 3,200 postal agency shops or via Posti’s online shop at www.posti.fi/goshopping. Parcels can be sent from 482 Parcel Points and approximately 1,000 Posti outlets around Finland. Parcels can also be conveniently paid online at posti.fi/sending or with Posti’s mobile application.
