Swiss Post will not increase its prices for sending letters and parcels in 2019 and will not charge the customs inspection fee for another year.
While this is good news for customers, it means a decrease in revenue for Swiss Post. Swiss Post needs cost-oriented and market-driven prices in order to remain competitive. Combined with the waiver of the customs inspection fee, Swiss Post will forgo millions of Swiss francs in revenue in 2019 by mutual agreement with the price regulator. This comes at a time when customer behavior is rapidly changing in an increasingly digitized world.
Swiss Post relies on profits in order to finance the universal service from its own funds, and continue to develop and meet customers’ modern demands. Swiss Post has not increased its prices for A and B Mail letters for 14 years.
Swiss Post’s core business is continually declining. The volume of letters and over-the-counter transactions has been shrinking for years and low interest rates mean that Swiss Post’s profits have steadily fallen. For this reason, Swiss Post is to discuss the pricing structure for letters and parcels from 2020 onward with the price regulator.
For some less heavily used products, there may be selective minor price modifications and these will come into force at the beginning of 2019. Swiss Post will individually inform any customers who are affected.