One of the biggest factors in the decline of the high street has undoubtedly been internet shopping. With millions of items simply a click away, cyber catalogues galore to browse and no need to trail around the shops for hours on end, the number of consumers converting to web based retailers is already in the millions and continues to grow.
Furthermore, online retailers do not have to bear the cost of operating multiple commercial properties– meaning that sites such as Amazon can afford to pass on these savings to their customers and drop prices further than their bricks and mortar based counterparts.
However, the rise of the internet has not just taken its toll on retailers, as a wide variety of businesses have been forced to alter the way in which they operate to adapt to this phenomenon. And none have struggled more with this technological boom than the traditional post office.
In recent years, the Crown Post Office chain has been forced to raise prices and cut back its property portfolio after a rising number of its customers chose to convert to alternative methods of communication. Now, it has dealt its employees a further blow by announcing that up to one in five high street branches could close as a result of a £40 million loss in the past 12 months.
Currently, Crown Post Offices operates 373 branches in the UK – 70 of which are expected to be affected by the upcoming shake up. However, rather than closing the post offices altogether they will attempt to forge partnerships with local retailers in order to set up concessionary posts within stores.
This, it hopes, will allow the Post Office to remain operational in the areas losing the actual branches while also helping it meet its pledge of no compulsory redundancies.
The strategy has certainly worked well in the past, with several localised branches of the Post Office merging with chains such as the Co-Op and WH Smith. Crown also hopes that smaller independent retailers will express an interest in the scheme as a means of securing a higher consumer footfall for their business.
In a statement it said; “We are currently undertaking the biggest business transformation programme in the history of the Post Office.
“Crown branches are a fundamental part of our long term growth strategy and need to be brought into profit, currently operating at a £40 million annual loss.
“The Post Office successfully works with many partners and in some areas it is more viable to partner with quality retailers. There are no compulsory redundancies planned as part of this strategy.”
Crown was quick to assure the public that, if no local retailers were willing to participate in the scheme, the current Post Offices would remain in their present locations. This means that towns will technically not lose their Post Office at all, and staff may be offered voluntary redundancies but will have the option to transfer to the new location.
While it can be argued that the boom of online shopping has assisted the Post Office in retaining business, this is not necessarily true. Many online retailers use private carriers to deliver goods to customers, while those who do use the Post Office fail to make up for the loss of business the company has sustained thanks to text messaging and email.
Robert Hammond of Consumer Focus agrees that, in order to survive, the Post Office must adapt to a new digital era and therefore demonstrate flexibility when it comes to the running of its premises.
He says; “The Post Office network must change if it is to be sustainable.
“These changes to Crown Post Offices are part of the biggest ever programme of change to the network and consumers will want to see Post Office services that are high quality and accessible, and offer the products and services they need – this is more important than the issue of who operates the Post Office itself.”
However, not everyone agrees that this major transition from the way the traditional Post Office is run will benefit the country as a whole. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) believes that the move will have a detrimental effect both upon staff members in the branches set to close and upon consumers who rely upon the services these provide.
Billy Hayes, general secretary of the CWU. Expressed his concern over the announcement and questioned several elements of the proposed downsizes. How, for example, will a smaller Post Office branch be able to provide services such as passport applications and financial services whilst operating from a smaller property?
He said; “This move will have a huge impact on the high streets of small towns earmarked to lose their Crown Post Office.
“These offices provide a dedicated specialist service to communities which will not be replicated by a window or two in a bigger shop.
“We’ve seen problems with access to Post Office services in previous franchise arrangements and fear this announcement could create further barriers to accessing a range of Post Office services.”
Do you think the closure of larger post offices, to be replaced with concessions in local shops, will cause fewer consumers to use its services? Or will it conversely cause more consumers to visit the stores in which the post offices are housed, thereby providing a boom for the local businesses which enter partnership?
