The news was a shock to the industry: Swiss Post is introducing quotas for the largest Päckli customers. Approved by the federal government. Valid until Easter. A first solution has now been found for the time afterwards, as the “Yellow Giant” wrote in a message.
The new way was found at the round table. A marathon session with top representatives from all sides took place yesterday Tuesday. Associations, dealers, social partners: everyone has contributed. The bottom line is that the policy of quotas is off the table for now.
However, Swiss Post warns: “Depending on the development of parcel quantities and the situation in Switzerland, further measures can be expected in the next few weeks.”
Bottleneck parcel center
How exactly does the package of measures against the flood of packets look like? Small parcels are now increasingly processed via the logistics chain of letter mail. Several Swiss parcel service providers and logisticians also make part of their sorting and transport capacities available to Swiss Post. And the dealers take over part of the pre-sorting for Swiss Post.
These are the main points. At the same time, the “Click & Collect” principle is to be strengthened. This system provides that the goods ordered online can increasingly be picked up in the retailers’ and retail outlets.
“The bottleneck is the quantity of parcels that our employees process in the parcel centers,” says Swiss Post. «The number of sorted packages is directly dependent on the number of employees in the package centers. This cannot be increased arbitrarily due to the requirements for social distancing. »
Praise from Migros and Coop
“We have taken on social responsibility together and show what we can do in a very short time in this country, even in times of crisis,” says post boss Roberto Cirillo.
Even Migros boss Fabrice Zumbrunnen and Coop boss Joos Sutter comment on the agreement. A sign of relevance. “The agreed measures show that in the crisis we stand together beyond our company borders and have a common goal: people in Switzerland should continue to be able to order the goods they need,” says Zumrbunnen.
“Joint measures across borders are the key so that good solutions can be found for our customers even in such times,” says Joos Sutter.
Non-food problem
Patrick Kessler from the Swiss Mail Order Association is more critical. The work is not yet done with the measures found, he says. “It is everyone’s responsibility to maintain Switzerland’s supply situation.”
Finally, Roland Brack finds clear words: “It is not possible to process the entire non-food market volume in one go in online trading and delivery with the specified shipping capacities.”
Accordingly, Brack formulated a clear demand – with a hint to the state government: It was urgently necessary to “include stationary store formats in the state supply if they can guarantee the BAG’s requirements regarding social distancing”.