To make postal services cheaper and more efficient, Russian Post has said it will consolidate the management of previously separate delivery units, mail sorting centers and policy-development teams under one roof.
The newly created service will be headed by the Russian Post’s current deputy general manager, Alexei Skatin, a company representative told Vedomosti.
The move follows a series of scandals at the company this year, including a 360,000 ruble ($10,900) fine for failing to deliver mail on time.
More than 500 tons of overseas parcels accumulated at Moscow airports in April this year. Initially the postal service blamed customs workers, but it later admitted it could not cope with the increasing volume of packages, mostly deliveries from online stores.
Conflict between the delivery and mail sorting centers regularly arose, a source аt Russian Post said. Instead of looking for solutions, management teams would blame one another for the problems. Russian Post hopes that bringing the services under one roof will eliminate such behavior.
To help optimize service delivery, Russian Post also met with representatives of online stores in an effort to understand the type of services they want to see provided.
The retailers said they would like clearly defined delivery classes — standard and express — with a simple pricing structure and delivery guarantees.
Other suggestions included delivery tracking with SMS notifications and easy payment methods for services.
