2011: MCA Perceptions Survey - Postal Services - Large Bulk Mailers

The MCA has today published the results of a survey it carried out between January and February 2012, in order to gauge organisations’ perceptions and satisfaction levels with regard to the bulk-mail service, amongst other postal services provided by MaltaPost Plc.

The bulk mail service refers to postal articles consisting of 50 items or more (of identical format, size and weight step) that are deposited with a postal operator, at the same place and at the same time to be conveyed and delivered to the addresses indicated on the postal articles. 40 organisations participated in this survey.

Results indicate that the majority of organisations (29 organisations) using the bulk mail service do so every week; 8 of which send between 5,000 – 10,000 addressed letters per batch while 5 organisations send more than 10,000 addressed letters each week. The survey also shows that 30% of participating organisations claim to have increased the number of addressed letters they sent using the bulk mail services. The vast majority of these organisations operate in the financial intermediation, real estate & rent, and business activities sector.  On the other hand, 25% of participating organisations claim to have decreased the number of addressed letters they sent and resorted to other alternatives, namely email and eCommerce, whilst the remaining 45% of all organisations say the number of letters sent has remained relatively the same over the past twelve months.

‘Despite the onset of new technologies that facilitate communication, this survey shows that postal services remain popular, particularly amongst the business community,’ said Ing. Philip Micallef, Executive Chairman, Malta Communications Authority.  ‘It is evident that electronic communications and postal services can, or more importantly should, work in tandem with each other for an efficient business operation. Both sets of services have proven to be indispensable in their own individual way,’ he continued.

With regard to price levels, 61% of participating organisations say that the prices of the bulk mail services are reasonable. Additionally, 48% of all surveyed organisations claim to be highly satisfied with such services. In fact, the majority of large bulk mailers claim to have used only MaltaPost’s postal services with the remaining 18% having used both MaltaPost and alternative postal service providers.

The survey also tries to gauge activity and the level of satisfaction with the services and facilities offered at the post offices. The results from the survey show that large bulk mailers have used the facilities of both MaltaPost’s head office and that of post offices in various localities. A number of organisations also made use of the services provided at the sub-post offices. In terms of satisfaction, 63% of large bulk mailers visiting a post office are satisfied with the level of services / facilities provided at the post office.

As for other services offered by MaltaPost, namely collection and delivery of parcels and collection and delivery of registered mail, the majority of interviewed organisations claim to generally be satisfied with these services and are confident that such postal articles are delivered safely. Notwithstanding this, 33% of all organisations interviewed claim to have lodged a formal complaint with MaltaPost about a particular aspect of the postal services. The most mentioned complaints refer to loss and delay of postal articles and post office operation hours.

All in all, however, the survey shows that 68% of large bulk mailers rate the overall quality of postal services provided by MaltaPost as very good while 48% of those interviewed claim to have seen an improvement in the services currently provided.

Additional information:

The survey consisted of face-to-face interviews with a total of 40 organisations. Each respondent, on behalf of the business / organisation, was the person responsible for the handling of mail and other postal articles in that business. Moreover, to be eligible to participate in this survey and exclude one-off users, the business / organisation had:

i) to be using the bulk mail service to send addressed letters; and 
ii) to send on average more than 750 addressed letters in a year using this service 
iii)The survey also tried to capture responses from across a wide range of industries.

View Survey Results