2023: Mobile commerce at Swiss Post

Mobile commerce at Swiss Post? What is Swiss Post doing in this area and what are the advantages for online retail?

When people talk about mobile commerce today, they mainly mention service providers in travel, hotel bookings or apps from well-established online retailers. We also have the Post-App, but it has made less of a name for itself in commerce. This changed abruptly with the expansion of the DigitalStamp service at the end of 2022. Until now, the Post-App was more of a faithful companion for parcel delivery, location searches or convenient ordering of collections by private customers, but with the DigitalStamp functions, the app has finally arrived in mCommerce.

Letter franking orders are now processed entirely via the app, including a modern payment function. There’s no need for a printer and no time spent waiting for an ordered stamp. A-Mail and B-Mail letters can be franked anywhere on a mobile basis. A letter code is generated in the app, which customers then write directly on the envelope in three lines using a pen. Swiss Post’s letter sorting systems recognize the handwritten codes and the letters are processed accordingly.

Parcels can also be franked directly in the app. The parcel processes still require a label, but thanks to DigitalStamp, a printer is no longer necessary. Customers simply present the generated barcode at the branch, and the parcel label is printed directly by Swiss Post and applied to the parcel. The consignment is tracked directly in the app under the corresponding order.

Optionally, customers can also print the parcel label themselves, giving them greater flexibility when submitting parcels. And those who want to save themselves a trip to an acceptance point will in future also be able to order collection at home or at an address of their choice.

And what are the advantages for Swiss online retail?

Many households no longer have a printer. Therefore, it is increasingly important to be able to hand over parcels to Swiss Post without a parcel label. This is an important factor for online retailers when it comes to returns. If they want to provide their customers with a label for a return consignment, they must currently include it with the order, send it separately, or send it electronically. In the latter case, this is only possible if the customers have a printer. With the new technology in the Post-App, Swiss Post has created a means for customers to post parcels without a physical label. Specific use cases for returns are now being developed by Swiss Post.