Mailman to start making deliveries on Saturdays

With more people shopping online, the postman will be working harder to get those packages delivered.

From July 12, they will be delivered on Saturdays as well, said Singapore Post.

Its call centre services also run 24 hours each day now, to cater to online shoppers who may want to enquire about their deliveries day or night.

To help its mailmen with their growing loads, SingPost is giving them bigger, more comfortable three-wheelers that can hold more parcels. Online shoppers and the popularity of e-commerce have thrown a lifeline to postal service operators as letter volumes wane.

SingPost's domestic mail volumes fell for the second consecutive year last year, with letter volume shrinking the most.

However, mail packages in total jumped 50 per cent between 2007 and last year.

This figure looks set to increase. Market research firm Euromonitor Internationalestimated that Singapore consumers will spend more than $1 billion online this year on purchases such as clothes, consumer electronics and media products - 9 per cent more than the $960 million they spent last year.

Said SingPost chief executive Wolfgang Baier: "We recognise that customers who make online purchases are naturally eager to receive their packages."

Online shopper Miguel Ho, 27, who is a civil servant, said: "This is great. If they deliver on weekdays, I tend to be out and will have to go to the post office to collect my package."

"Even better if they deliver my package on Saturday mornings, when I am at home," he added.

SingPost used to make deliveries on Saturdays but stopped in 2010 after there were 40 per cent fewer letters for delivery on Saturdays than on weekdays.

But it is confident there is demand for a Saturday package delivery service due to more people shopping online.

This article was first published on July 05, 2014.
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