Behaviour and expectations of single piece mail users : A French study

1. Behaviour and expectations of single piece mail users : A French study ARCEP - TNS Sofres

2. Objectives • The survey covers both companies and households who have been questioned about their behavior and expectations as a sender and as a receiver. • Behaviors and expectations are assessed on 3 basic products: • The letter (less than 2 kg) • The standard Parcel (up to 20 kg) • The registered service (letter and parcel) • The survey was conducted by telephone from the 19th of September to the 17th of October 2005 among 1334 households and 1022 companies. The first sample was representative of French households equipped with fixed-line telephone. The second sample was made of “at least 1 employee-companies” representing both commercial and non commercial activities.

3. Methodology • To define postal service users behaviors, data has been collected in an empiric way. Users have been asked to describe their behavioras sendersas well as receivers. The questionnaire was designed in order to identify the products used, the frequency of use and the volume (PART 1). • Expectations and preferences collected by asking interviewees to arbitrate between different postal services criteria via a simplified “trade-off” method known as the Comrey method (PART 2). • Classify preferences into a hierarchy in order to evaluate their weight in the company and household value system. • The interviewee cannot say she/he desires everything proposed but focuses on aspects she/he really cares about. • In this survey, the individual does not directly express what her/his expectations are, she/he is not asked to give an importance score to each criterion, but her/his choices (and compromises) reveal them. • In that sort of study, price are not take into account.

4. PART 1 :POSTAL PRACTICES1-1 Households postal practices1-2 Companies postal practices1-3 Postal practices : Losses or damagesPART 2 : EXPECTATIONS, PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS

5. 1-1 Households postal practices

6. Households Postal practices : letters A1 – Over the last 12 months, at what frequency has your household received standard letters coming from France ? + - • 57% of households receive at least one letter almost everyday Parisian households (24% receive more than 10 letters per week) high socio-economic group (24%) At the contrary, 59% of over 65 year old households receive less than 5 letters per week. • 42% of households send at least one letter per week. Parisian households (24% send more than 10 letters per month) High socio-economic group (23%) Volume of reception of standard letters per week Base : 1334 (Total sample) < 5 5 à 9 10 et + A8 – Over the last 12 months, at what frequency has your household sentstandard letters in France ? + Volume of sending of standard letters per month < 5 5 à 9 10 et + Base : 1334 (Total sample)

7. Households Postal practices: parcels and registered mail SC5 – Over the last 12 months, in your household, have you received by La Poste and coming from France... + • Around 1 household out of 2 has received at least 1 registered mail over the last 12 months and around 1 household out of 2 has sent at least 1 registered mail. Reception of registered mail : High socio-economic group (68%), Web users (66%), Under 35 year old (65%), Parisian households (64%). Sending of registered mails : Web users (68%), High socio-economic group (67%), Under 35 year old (66%), Parisian households (64%). • Around 1 household out of 2 has received at least 1 parcel over the last 12 months and 1 household out of 3 has sent at least one. Reception of parcels : Web users (64%), high socio-economic group (63%), Parisian households (57%). Sending of parcels : High socio-economic group (44%), Web users (41%), Parisian households (38%). + Base : 1334 (Total sample) SC6 – Over the last 12 months, in your household, have you sent by La Poste and to France... + + Base : 1334 (Total sample)

8. Households Postal practices: parcels* A3 – Over the last 12 months, how many parcels coming from France has received your household excluding insured items and Chronopost ? • 49% of the parcel receiver households received between 1 and 3 within the last 12 months, 51% more than 3. No difference with respect to socio-economic groups or to geographical location. 61% of the households receive mainly their parcels from businesses or administrations, and 21% mainly from households. Parcels are mostly distributed in letter boxes (41%) or by the post woman or man (30%). 19% of the households collect their parcels at the post office. • 60% of the parcel sender households sent between 1 to 3 within the last 12 months, 40% more than 3. 82% of the households sent their parcels to some other households ; only 9% send parcels mostly to businesses (including return to sender for mail order selling,…). Base : 711 (receive parcels) A11 – Over the last 12 months, how many parcels has sent your household ? Base : 437 (send parcels) * except Chronopost and registered mail

9. Households Postal practices : registered mail (letters or parcels) A6 – Over the last 12 months, how many registered mail items (letters or parcels has your household received from La Poste ? • 55% of the registered mail receiver household have received between 1 and 3 items within the last 12 months. 19% of over 65 year old households received at least 10 registered items within a year, Parisian households often received from 4 to 9 registered items (44%), Rural households from 1 to 3 (63%). 1 household out of 2 mostly received their registered mail from the post woman or man ; the other half collects them at the post office. • 63% of the registered mail sender households have sent from 1 to 3 registered items within the last 12 months. 23% of over 65 year old households sent 6+ registered items, 23% of over high socio-economic group households sent 6+ registered items. + + - Base : 658 (receive registered mail) A14 – Over the last 12 months, how many registered mail items has your household sent from La Poste ? + Base : 688 (send registered mail)

10. Households Postal practices of the households : web users and non-web users 44% of interviewed households are equipped with the Internet at home. (35% of the whole population according to Médiamétrie – 3rd trimester 2005). This difference can be explained by the fact that only the households that are equipped with a fixed telephone were interviewed during this study. • Web users households …. • … receive more ordinary mail and more frequently that non-users : • 68 % of web users household receive mail almost everyday (others=48%). • 49% of web users household receive from 5 to 10 letters a week (others=37%). • … are more numerous to have received at least 1 parcel or 1 registered mail item within the last 12 months. • … send more ordinary mail: • 47% of web users households send mail at least once a week (others=39%). • … are more numerous to have sent parcels and registered mail within the last 12 months. Base : 1334 (Total sample) • Nevertheless, the numbers of parcels and insured mail sent over the last 12 months by web user households and non-web users households are almost the same.

11. 1-2 Companies Postal Practices

12. Companies Postal practices : letters A1 – Over the last 12 months, at what frequency has your company received ordinary letters from France ? + - • Almost every company receive letters every days. Insurance and financial intermediaries (58% receive more than 50 letters a week), Services industry (53%), transport (51%), legal activities (51%), Retailers (56% receive less than 20 letters a week), hostelry catering (54%), building industry (51%). • 7 companies out of 10 send letters everyday Insurance and financial intermediaries (68% send more than 50 letters a week), legal activities (49%), hostelry catering (80% send less than 20 letters a week), trade (68%). Volume of reception of ordinary letters per week Base : 1022 (Total sample) < 20 20 à 49 50 et + A9 – Over the last 12 months, at what frequency has your company sent ordinary letters to France ? + - Volume of sending of ordinary letters per week < 20 20 à 49 50 et + Base : 1022 (Total sample)

13. Companies Postal practices : parcels and registered mail SC5 – Over the last 12 months, has your company received by La Poste and from France… + • More than 80% of companies send or receive registered mail. Legal activities, industry, real estate Retail business (68% send or receive). • 1 company out of 2 has sent at least a parcel within the last 12 months 60% received at least one. Sending : Transport (70%), retail business (63%), industry (61%), Companies from 50 to 99 employees (59%) and especially with more than 100 employees (71%). Building industry (33%), Legal activities accountancy (23%). Reception : Transport (83%), retail industry (75%), companies with more than 100 employees (80%). - Base : 1022 (Total sample) SC6 – Over the last 12 months, has your company sent by La Poste and to France… + - + Base : 1022 (Total sample)

14. Companies Postal practices: parcels * A3 – Over the last 12 months, at what frequency has your company received by La Poste parcels weighing under 20kg from France apart from Chronopost registered ? • 69% of parcels receiver companies receive parcels at least once a month, and 27% at least once a week. Transport (37% receive at least 4 a month), industry (34%), trade (35% among which 46% wholesale dealers). • 52% of parcel sender companies send parcels at least once a month. Industry (29% send at least 4 a month), trade as a whole (27% among which 33% whole sale dealers) + Volume of reception per month Base : 623 (receive parcels) < 1 1 à 3 4 et + A12 – Over the last 12 months, at what frequency your company has sent by La Poste parcels weighing less than 20kg apart from registered ? + Volume of sending per month < 1 1 à 3 4 et + Base : 483 (send parcels) * except Chronopost and registered

15. Companies Postal practices : registered mail (letters or parcels) A6 – Over the last 12 months, at what frequency has your company received by La Poste registered letters of parcels from France ? + • 72% of registered mail sender companies receive at least once a month, 33% at least once a week. Legal activities (79% receive at least 4 per month), transport (52%), real estate (49%). hostelry catering (50% receive less than once a month), Companies with 1 or 2 employees (38%). • 64% of registered mail sender companies send at least once a month and 25 % at least once a week. financial intermediaries (81% send more than 4 times a month), Legal activities (75%), Trade (49% receive less than once a month), hostelry catering (50). - Volume of reception of registered mail per month Base : 850 (receive registered mail) < 1 1 à 3 4 et + A16 – Over the last 12 months, at what frequency has your company sent by La Poste registered letters and parcels to France ? + - Volume of sending of registered mail per month < 1 1 à 3 4 et + Base : 862 (send registered mail)

16. 1-3 Postal practices : Losses or damages Similar results as in other European countries in spite of the big differences in methods (UK, Portugal, Malta, …).

17. HouseholdsPostal practices : Losses or damages A17 – Over the last 12 months, in your household, has it happened that you did not received an expected letter/parcel or that you received it damaged ? Base : 1334 (Total sample) • 22% of households declare that they have not received an expected letter/parcel or that they have received it damaged. • 11% of households declare that a letter/parcel they sent was lost or damaged. • 11% of households made a complaint to La Poste within the last 12 months. • It should be noted however that these are perceived incidents. (a very rough calculation give “loss rate” for letters (not) received by the households at less than 3 to 10.000 ;and “loss rate” for letters sent by the households at less than 9 to 10.000). Yes (at least 1 letter/parcel lost or damaged= 22% A19 – Over the last 12 months, in your household, has it happened that a letter/parcel you sent did was not delivered or was delivered damaged ? Base : 1334 (Total sample) Yes (at least 1 letter/parcel lost or damaged= 11%

18. Companies Postal practices : losses and damages A17 – Over the last 12 months, in your company, has it happened that you did not received an expected letter/parcel or that you received it damaged ? Base : 1022 (Total sample) Yes (at least 1 letter/parcel lost or damaged = 31% • 31% of companies declare that they have not received an expected letter/parcel or that they have received it damaged. • 23% of companies declare that a letter/parcel they sent was lost or damaged. • 16% of companies made a complaint to La Poste within the last 12 months. • It should be noted however that these are perceived incidents. In addition, a quick calculation reveals that these figures have to be put into perspective(a very rough calculation give loss rate of the letters (not) received or sent by companies at 1 to 10.000). A19 – Over the last 12 months, in your company, has it happened that a letter/parcel you sent did was not delivered or was delivered damaged ? Base : 1022 (Total sample) Yes (at least 1 letter/parcel lost or damaged = 23%

19. PART 2THE EXPECTATIONS : PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS

20. Methodology (Again!) • Expectations and preferences collected by asking interviewees to arbitrate between different postal services criteria via a simplified “trade-off” method known as the Comrey method. • Classify preferences into a hierarchy in order to evaluate their weight in the company and household value system. • The interviewee cannot say she/he desires everything proposed but focuses on aspects she/he really cares about. • In this survey, the individual does not directly express what her/his expectations are, she/he is not asked to give an importance score to each criterion, but her/his choices (and compromises) reveal them. • In that sort of study, prices are not take into account.

21. This study has shown several points of importance • The importance of speed, especially for letters in D+1 and parcels in D+2. It is the main expectation compared to all other criteria. • 2nd criteria, convenience (deposit and delivery) comes just after, and especially for parcels and registered mail. Ex : Companies ask for later deposit for mail (2 /3) and households are for better delivery in case of absence. • Delivery 6 days a week appears to be important. • For registered mail, reliability is household main expectation, proof of delivery is companies main expectation. • Tables summarized the results

22. Sending Reception Criterion Mail Parcels Registered mail Mail Parcels Registered mail Convenience of deposit location + + + + - Last collection time Convenience of delivery in case of absence + + + Convenience of delivery Number of delivery days per week + + + - - Time of delivery Transit time + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Guaranteed 100% reliability + + Track & trace information - - - - - - - - - Households Ranking of the preferences Households

23. Sending Reception Criterion Mail Parcels Registered mail Mail Parcels Registered mail Convenience of deposit location + + Last collection time + + - - - Convenience of delivery in case of absence Convenience of delivery + + Number of delivery days per week + + + - Time of delivery + + Transit time + + + + + + + + + + + + Guaranteed 100% reliability + - Track & trace information + - - + - - - - - - Companies Ranking of the preferences Companies

24. Sending Reception Criterion Mail Parcels Registered mail Mail Parcels Registered mail Convenience of deposit location + + + + + - + Last collection time + + - - - Convenience of delivery in case of absence + + + Convenience of delivery + + Number of delivery days per week + + + + + - + - - Time of delivery + + Transit time + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Guaranteed 100% reliability + + + + - Track & trace information - + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - Ranking of the preferences HouseholdsCompanies

25. Is there something really new in this study ? • Speed expectations seems to have changed: in the 90’ reliability in D+2 came first (see for example European Green Paper, 1992), now expectation is reliability +speed. Recent studies show similar results. • Convenience of deposit and delivery are perceived as essential. • For postal operators It is very difficult to measure directly traffic losses and damages. But nevertheless, it is a real issue.