Several years ago, in a humorous article, if I must say so myself, I lamented the dearth of the postman. Through no particularly profound insight on my part, I foretold the impending demise of the Post Office.
When I was a toddler the cheapest and easiest way to communicate was via the Post. You walked into a Post Office, bought an envelope and stamp(s). Took a piece of paper, a double sheet if you wanted to really rant, wrote you peace of mind on it, stuffed it into the envelope, attached the stamps, post it and many moons later it would reach its intended recipient.
Things have changed a lot since those dull and slow days. We have already said hello to much better technologies such as SMS and Mixit in the intervening period between now and then. Now we are spoiled for choice when it comes to instant conversation. We can cheaply make WhatsApp calls, Hangout calls, Messenger and good old email. And that’s not even an exhaustive list.
Everything else is growing
In the meantime, other forms of communications have been rising to fill in the gap. Actual voice calls have been increasing too driven by promotions. That will probably change at some point as more and more people join internet-related technologies.
| 2017 | 2018 | Percentage Growth | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voice Traffic | 4.4 billion minutes | 5.3 billion minutes | 20.5 |
| Mobile internet and data | 15 360 TB | 27 278 TB | 77.6 |
| Used International Incoming Bandwidth capacity | 48 Gps | 85 Gps | 77.2 |
| Postal & Courier Volumes | 8 million | 7.8 million | -4.1 |
| SMS | 10.9 million | 14.3 million | 31.2 |
As the table above shows, even poor SMS has seen growth no doubt driven by bulk SMS and it’s increased use in the banking and FinTech world. People now receive the bulk of their communications from companies, for example, Ecocash and bank balances. Also as people become more security conscious they are using SMS as part of two-factor authentication.
The Post Office will not die
Some people wrongly assumed I had misspelt my early article on and meant to say the death of the postman. I didn’t. I mean dearth as in they have become rare and will continue to do so for a while. The Post Office will not really die.
You cannot, for example, WhatsApp your parcel from Bulawayo to Harare. You will need it to be physically delivered. In developed eCommerce has saved the Post Office. The size of the eCommerce market in Zimbabwe is rather small and the Post Office will continue to shrink until it matches that market.
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It’s a pity that most business people do not consider Post when doing their business. You can reach any corner of the country using their network for moving parcels around. I use them extensively and it has allowed me to gain a competitive advantage over my competitors. In the last 4 years no parcel has ever been tampered with or gone missing.
Look at the example of Amazon and the US Postal Service. Sometimes it’s not about them innovating but you using them innovatively.