Over the past decade the state-owned postal services in LATAM countries have been continuously upgrading and digitizing their services to meet their customers’ changing needs. This is the story of Serpost.
When it comes to parcel delivery services, this niche in most countries of Latin America has been historically dominated by state-owned businesses, from Correios in Brazil to Correos de Chile and Correo Argentino in Chile and Argentina, correspondingly, and, certainly, Serpost in Peru.
However, the latter company took much longer than the others to begin its inevitable evolution from the old-fashioned mail service to the next-gen shipping company, compatible with other large players on the contemporary LATAM parcel delivery market.
How It Started
In fact, it took two decades and the global pandemic to push it forward, yet even so, it seems like this long-awaited evolution of Serpost is finally happening.
Let’s begin with a few brief facts. First, Serpost was founded 27 years ago. Secondly, it currently covers most of the territory of Peru (over 89%) with its delivery services (via its 450+ offices). The trick is, however, two of these competitive advantages somehow haven’t been playing in the company’s favor until recently.
In fact, the postal infrastructure, let alone its digital aspect, hasn’t been modernized up until the late 2010s, and according to some of the latest Serpost tracking data, only 80 of 140+ Serpost offices enable collecting parcels using the so-to-speak electronic means.
How It’s Going
Even though the evolution of Serpost wasn’t as rapid as it should have been, over the past five years the company has successfully undergone multiple noticeable changes.
First, the Serpost official website has been redesigned to provide its users with a more intuitive and more comprehensive experience, e.g. enabling them to “find Serpost near me”, or tracking Serpost parcels faster and smoother.
More importantly, the company itself is currently undergoing a massive digital transformation, with the 24/7 Virtual Post Office expected to launch in the months to come, using a strategic budget of 17 Million Sol (over 4 Million USD), allocated to it in 2022.
In this respect, Serpost has already formed an alliance with state entities, like PROMPERÚ and SUNAT to launch solutions like Importafácil and Exportafácil, aimed explicitly at helping micro- and small-sized entrepreneurs ship their products globally (i.e. 7,500 USD max. in price, 30 kg max. in weight), in a more affordable and efficient way.
In addition, the company has introduced an online system for arranging and tracking Serpost parcel delivery/pickup via WhatsApp in several districts of Lima. Of course, this tech solution still lacks scalability and, obviously, needs a further upgrade. Still, it definitely demonstrates the managements’ dedication to enhancing the operator’s online segment progressively, via the “Single Window” model.
Perspectives for the Future
The so-to-speak ninja Serpost approach to its business development, mostly fueled by the ongoing shift to e-commerce on the national level, is already demonstrating impressive results.
In fact, as the Serpost tracking data demonstrates, the company successfully handled the delivery of 2,700,000+ parcels in 2021 (13% YoY growth, compared to 2020), and the further +15% YoY growth is forecasted for 2022.
Much of this increase will be definitely due to the continuously accelerating expansion of Asian e-commerce companies, like Shopee or AliExpress, for example. Namely, about 60 – 70% of imported parcels come from Asia, while only 30% are being sent from the U.S.
Nonetheless, this doesn’t mean Serpost is missing its North-American business opportunities. On the contrary, the company has recently signed an alliance agreement with eBay, which enables Peruvian e-commerce companies to export their products globally, via the eBay marketplace, at the comparatively lower cost, utilizing the Serpost postal and logistics infrastructure.
Tip! Learn more about the easy-to-use Serpost tracking capabilities, available at Track Me Fast, or track your Serpost parcel instantly, using the search field right above.