An Post suitable for e-tailing with secure credit card facilities

Post offices and convenience stores may offer a solution to e-commerce delivery and fulfilment problems, according to accountants Deloitte & Touche.

Despite the growing popularity of Internet retailing, consumers still encounter problems receiving parcels outside business hours.

Up to 20 per cent of dispatched goods are returned at great cost to e-tailers because the purchaser is not at home to accept delivery or products are faulty or unwanted.

"There are many models but one suggestion is that a trusted third party such as a post office may be an acceptable repository," said Mr Ronan Nolan of Deloitte & Touche, Dublin.

Post office "Internet depots" may remove consumers' fears about security by avoiding the submission of credit card details over the Web, the study said.

Increased parcel volume led An Post to invested £10 million (€12.7 million) recently in its delivery subsidiary SDS - effectively doubling its space and capacity to accommodate the rising number of packages.

A high percentage of SDS business is in the Internet fulfilment area and delivery offices are open from early morning until 5.30 a.m. to 6 p.m., said a spokesman.

However, changing work patterns and increased traffic congestion mean most people are not home until after 7 p.m.

An international Deloitte & Touche report suggests that there is a need for additional local centres and more convenient opening hours, Mr Nolan said.

"If the post offices don't do it someone else will - maybe convenience stores are the best solution," he said.

In Japan, this model has been extremely successful. Consumers pay when picking up goods from local 7-Eleven convenience stores by handing over their credit card at the till. An Post said it will consider the report's findings. Officials from An Post are in ongoing negotiations with bank industry representatives to discuss changes to, and possible partnerships between, postal and banking systems.

This includes the national payments system and financial service provision for those in rural areas.

The shift in services towards major population centres is evident in figures provided by the Irish Bankers' Federation.

In 1990, there were 705 bank branches and 192 sub-offices. Last year, bank branches numbered 744 and sub-offices 127.