Ofcom：2014年苏格兰邮件行业报告

6 Post

6.1

Recent developments

Satisfaction with postal services has long been a feature of the communications market in Scotland; again, delivery times and reliability were rated highly by consumers in Scotland in 2013.

In the past year there has been a focus on rural delivery issues that sit outside Royal Mail’s quality of service measures. Late in 2012, Citizens Advice Scotland highlighted the issue of parcel delivery charges in its report The Postcode Penalty. A code of practice was published in 2014, with Scottish Government backing, and retailers and businesses were urged to sign up to it.

Residents of Caithness and Sutherland started campaigning to have their postcode altered, as it covers a wide geographic area that includes the island of Orkney, which can lead to delivery surcharges by carriers other than Royal Mail.

The Scottish Parliament has a cross-party group on postal issues which takes an interest in the universal service obligation, Post Offices, and protecting vulnerable and disadvantaged postal users in Scotland.

6.2

Sending post: residential customers

Almost six in ten adults in Scotland say they only use post if there is no alternative When asked about their attitudes to various statements concerning sending and receiving

95

One in four adults in Scotland have not sent any post in the past month

A quarter of adults living in Scotland (25%) said they had not sent any post in the past

month, compared to just 16% of those in Wales. However, among those who had sent post,

Source: Ofcom Residential Postal Tracker, Q2 2013-Q1 2014

Base: All respondents (n = 4823 UK, 2761 England, 830 Scotland, 557 Wales, 675 Northern Ireland) QC1. Approximately how many items of post - including letters, cards and parcels - have you personally sent in the past month?

Over two-fifths of adults in Scotland have sent a parcel in the past month

Forty three per cent of adults in Scotland claim to have sent a parcel in the past month. When asked to consider how much they had spent on postage in the past month, 45% of adults in Scotland claim to have spent over ￡4, with an average spend of ￡7.69.

0%

20%40%

60%

80%

100%Don't know 21+ items 11-20 items 5-10 items 3 or 4 items

1 or

2 items None

96

Figure 6.3

Type of post sent in the last month

Source: Ofcom Residential Postal Tracker, Q2 2013-Q1 2014

Base: All who have personally sent any items of post in the last week (n = 3817 UK, 2192 England, 652 Scotland, 502 Wales, 471 Northern Ireland)

QC5. Which of these types of mail would you say you have personally sent in the last month by post? (multicode)

Adults in Scotland are more likely than those in other nations to use a Post Office counter to send parcels

Adults in Scotland are more likely than those in the other nations to go to the Post Office counter in order to send a parcel (71% vs. 58% across the UK). Figure 6.4

Methods used to send parcels

Source: Ofcom Residential Postal Tracker, Q2 2013-Q1 2014

Base: All who have sent any parcels in the last month (n = 1511 UK, 860 England, 270 Scotland, 197 Wales, 184 Northern Ireland)

QC20. You said earlier that you have sent one or more parcels in the last month... When you sent these parcels, which of these methods did you use? (multicode)

204060

80cards/ postcards

UK England Scotland Wales N Ireland

Proportion of consumers (%)

2040

6080delivery service services

UK England Scotland Wales N Ireland

Proportion of consumers (%)

97

Those in Scotland are more likely than all UK adults to have reduced, and to continue to reduce, the amount of post they send

When asked about how the amount of post they send has changed in recent times, people in Scotland are more likely than the UK average to say they now send less (-12% net). They also anticipate that they will further reduce their use of post in the future (-11% net). Figure 6.5

Net claimed change in amount of post sent in the last two years

Base: All respondents (n = 4823 UK, 2761 England, 830 Scotland, 557 Wales, 675 N Ireland)

QC10: Compared with two years ago, would you say that the number of items you send through the post has...increased greatly, increased slightly, stayed the same, decreased slightly, decreased greatly? (Multiple choice)

Note: chart shows net (% who claim use has increased - % those who claim use has decreased)

Figure 6.6

Predicted change in amount of post sent in two years’ time

Base: All respondents (n = 4823 UK, 2761 England, 830 Scotland, 557 Wales, 675 N Ireland)

QC16: Looking to the future... Compared with now, would you say that the number of letters, cards and parcels you will be sending in the post two years from now will have.....increased greatly, increased slightly, stayed the same, decreased slightly, decreased greatly?

Note: chart shows net (% who claim use will increase - % those who their use will decrease)

-20 %

-10 %0 %10 %20 %-20 %

-10 %

0 %

10 %20 %98

Receiving post: residential customers

6.3Those living in Scotland claim to receive the most items of post each week, compared to the rest of the UK

The average number of letters, cards and parcels received by households in Scotland (10.5) is much higher than the UK average of 8.7 items received per week . This is largely driven by

Source: Ofcom Residential Postal Tracker, Q2 2013-Q1 2014

Base: All respondents (n = 4823 UK, 2761 England, 830 Scotland, 557 Wales, 675 Northern Ireland) QD1. Approximately how many items of post – including letters, cards and parcels – have you personally received in the last week

People in Scotland say the amount of post they receive has increased over the last two years, driven in part by an increase in the amount of parcels received

When asked to compare the amount of post they receive now with what they typically

received two years ago, over one in four adults in Scotland (27% net) think the amount has increased. Almost a third of these (31%) say that the number of parcels they now receive has increased, compared to just 19% across the UK as a whole (Figure 6.8).

0%

20%

40%

60%80%100%

Don't know 21+ items 11-20 items

5-10 items 3 or 4 items

1 or

2 items None

99

Figure 6.8

Type of items received more often

Source: Ofcom Residential Postal Tracker, Q2 2013-Q1 2014

Base: All respondents who say that the number of items received by post has increased, compared to two years ago (n = 1197 UK, 705 England, 207 Scotland, 140 Wales, 145 Northern Ireland)

QD6. Which of these types of addressed items are you personally receiving more often through the post now? (multicode)

Attitudes towards Royal Mail

6.4Adults living in Scotland are more satisfied than the rest of the UK with the cost of postage

Eighty nine per cent of people in Scotland are ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied with Royal Mail overall. Figure 6.9 shows that this satisfaction is seen across all aspects of Royal Mail’s service, in particular the cost of postage: 68% of adults in Scotland express satisfaction with

this, compared to just 55% across the whole of the UK.

20

40

60

organisation you have a relationship

with

circulars from organisations you have a relationship

with direct mail from other organisations invoices/statements letters greetings cards parcels parcels

brochures magazines

UK England Scotland Wales N Ireland

Proportion of consumers (%)

100

Figure 6.9 Satisfaction with specific aspects of Royal Mail’s service

Source: Ofcom Residential Postal Tracker, Q2 2013-Q1 2014

Base: All respondents (n = 4823 UK, 830 Scotland)

QE3A-F. Satisfaction with specific aspects of Royal Mail’s services (very or quite satisfied)

Ranked by proportion satisfied among Scotland adults

101

Sending and receiving post: business customers

6.5

Over six in ten businesses in Scotland send fewer than 25 letters each month

Sixty one per cent of organisations based in Scotland say they send fewer than 25 letters each month. Compared to those in Wales, business customers in Scotland are more likely to send over 100 letters on a monthly basis (16% vs. 11%).

Figure 6.10 Average volume of letters sent each month Array

Source: Ofcom Business Postal Tracker, Q2 2013-Q1 2014

Base: All respondents (n = 1524 UK, 911 England, 223 Scotland, 208 Wales, 182 N Ireland)

QV2a. On average, how many letter items does your organisation send per month? Please think only about all the letters and large letters you may send as an organisation.

One in four businesses in Scotland frank their First and Second Class letters

Although a lower proportion than in the UK as a whole, 62% of businesses in Scotland send their letters using standard First Class stamps (69% across the UK). However, almost one in four (24%) business customers in Scotland frank their letters, compared to 19% across

the UK and just 16% in Wales.

102

Figure 6.11 Royal Mail services used to send letters

Source: Ofcom Business Postal Tracker, Q2 2013-Q1 2014

Base: All respondents using RM standard delivery services (n = 1380 UK, 828 England, 202 Scotland, 180 Wales, 170 N Ireland)

QV6d. Which, if any, of the following Royal Mail services does your organisation use to send your standard mail?

Around four-fifths of businesses in Scotland are satisfied with the postal service they receive from Royal Mail

Seventy nine per cent of business customers in Scotland say they are satisfied with the service they receive from Royal Mail, with 36% saying they are ‘very satisfied’.

Class stamp

Second Class stamp

Class

Second Class Class Second Class parcels

Proportion of respondents (%)

103

Source: Ofcom Residential Postal Tracker, Q2 2013-Q1 2014

Base: All respondents who use Royal Mail (n = 1492 UK, 886 England, 220 Scotland, 205 Wales, 181 Northern Ireland)

QRM2. Thinking generally about the service your organisation receives as a whole, on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is very dissatisfied and 5 is very satisfied, how satisfied are you with the overall quality of the services you receive from Royal Mail as a recipient and sender?

Over three in four businesses in Scotland are satisfied with the reliability of collections

When asked about satisfaction with specific aspects of postal services in Scotland, 77% of respondents expressed satisfaction with the reliability of collections (69% across the UK) and 72% said they were happy with collection times (66% across the UK).

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Very

dissatisfied Fairly

dissatisfied

Neither

satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly satisfied

Very satisfied

104

Figure 6.13 Satisfaction with specific aspects of Royal Mail’s service

Source: Ofcom Business Postal Tracker, Q2 2013-Q1 2014

Base: All respondents who use Royal Mail (n = 1422 UK, 220 Scotland)

QRM3: How would you rate the performance of Royal Mail, as a recipient and sender, in the following areas on a 5 point scale where 1 is very dissatisfied and 5 is very satisfied? Ranked by satisfaction levels in Scotland

77%0%20%40%60%

80%

100%

Price of postage

Delivery time Latest collection time

Time of collection Delivery consistency / reliability

Amount of lost mail

Availability of a daily collection

Collection reliability

Scotland UK

Proportion of respondents (%)

105