Self-Service in the Postal Sector

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While self-checkout and self-scanning are largely isolated to retail, the potential of kiosks within the postal sector should not be overlooked. Post offices have a reputation for long queues and wait times. This is not necessarily down to poor store layout or insufficient staffing, but more often to the many and varied processes, applications and enquiries that occur within their environment. As the single source within a community for important documentation, postal counter services and the distribution of allowances and benefits, there is nearly always a large pool of customers seeking a variety of services, all of whom require different levels of interaction, time and resources.
 
The deployment of kiosks within post offices has the potential to assist in reducing queue times and increasing customer throughput and satisfaction. In recent marketing drives, Zebra have suggested that products such as their Kiosk Print Station could provide an attractive solution.
 
They point out that such products could allow customers to make quick and easy interactions across all manner of application areas, such as tax disc applications, utility bill payments and saving bonds, and also searching for forms specific to the customer’s needs. Their deployment in post offices can reduce the time spent by employees in directing the customer through the appropriate paperwork, whilst also providing cross-selling and marketing opportunities.
 
The Zebra Print Station, combined with an easy-to-navigate touch screen and logical user interface, is well-suited to provide such services. A touch screen can include a barcode scanner, card reader and receipt printer and be linked to the internet.
 
The company says that very real efficiency and customer satisfaction gains already experienced in the retail sector are hard to ignore. They conclude that the adoption of a self-service model has significant potential within the postal sector and should definitely be a matter for consideration, especially when considering the current perception of the post office by today’s time-pressured consumers.