Singapore Post thriving amidst e-commerce surge

Postal giant’s CEO International, Li Yu, shares insights on industry challenges and SingPost’s trailblazing transformation.

Amidst the global decline in traditional mail volumes driven by digital communication, Singapore’s postal service provider, SingPost, has successfully navigated the competitive logistics industry through strategic transformation.

Owing in part to the post-COVID-19 surge in e-commerce, SingPost CEO International Li Yu said the dynamic landscape of the logistics industry has spurred them to redefine SingPost’s role and thrive amid the challenges.

“Our board and management recognised the need to transform years ago,” Li told the Singapore Business Review in a recent interview. “Over 70% [revenue] was actually contributed by logistics, compared to just barely 38% back in 2020.

This underscored how SingPost’s strategic transformation towards logistics has yielded substantial revenue growth, positioning it as a key player in the logistics sector.

“It’s important that we embark on a strategic review, stay focus and pivottowards a leading logistics service provider within the 4PL (fourth-party logistics) space across the region,” Li said, noting the company’s commitment to being a leading logistics service provider in the Asia-Pacific region.Li said SingPost first had to realise three key areas of transformation, beginning with expanding its foothold in the e-commerce logistics sector through strategic acquisitions.

“We have expanded establish our foothold in the e-commerce logistics world... acquisitions in Australia... cross border international business... investment in digitalisation innovation,” he said, citing SingPost’s move to acquire additional stake in leading 4PL service provider FMH in Australia.

As he mentioned, the second key aspect of transformation had to do with prioritising SingPost’s cross-border international business, focusing on enhancing its service capabilities and expanding hubs in strategic locations.

And the third facet of transformation centres on digitalisation and innovation. By investing in real-time tracking, personalised delivery solutions, and data analytics, Li said SingPost aims to provide integrated and efficient services to its customers.

“We are working to combine the e-commerce sellers and marketing providers with a sustainable service solution,” he said, further stressing their initiatives aimed at cohesion.

In a highly competitive logistics industry, strategic collaboration and digital investment are pivotal and cannot be overemphasised.

“Leverage the strategic relationship... pivot to logistics will be the key... focus on digital investment, smart data analytics, warehouse automation,” Li said as he explained the importance of taking off from the Universal Postal Union (UPU) to transition from postal to logistics services.

Whilst infrastructure development enhances customer experiences and reduces costs, he also highlighted the significance of international collaboration among postal operators.

“Postal operators should really work together to advance e-commerce delivery by collaborating with each other via our postal network, bilateral agreement, promote international trade and provide cost efficiency for our customers,” the CEO said.

Looking ahead, Li expressed optimism about the prospects of the e-commerce logistics market in the Asia Pacific region.

With Asia emerging as one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets globally, SingPost is believed to be strategically positioned to capitalise on this growth. “Asia Pacific itself is a huge market... governments and industry stakeholders in APAC are both investing in infrastructure as well as innovation and technology,” Li noted.

One key priority would be to create sustainable strategies to meet growing customer expectations for flexible and personalised delivery experiences.

“The growing demand for faster, flexible delivery options, and personalised delivery experiences are very key... logistic companies are expected to work together and invest in infrastructure, expand the network, adopt innovation technologies, and prioritise the customer experience to stay competitive in this evolving market,” Li said.

Evidently, these are key areas where SingPost gets to lead since it is already setting new industry standards in the ever-evolving world of logistics.

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