F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: E-commerce sales is an emerging tool which has massively accelerated the growth of e-commerce up to 77 percent in a number of countries amid COVID 19 scenario.
A report issued by Universal Postal Union (UPU) Direct Marketing Advisory board (DMAB) titled “COVID-19, Posts and Direct Marketing”, stated that online shopping is also expected to be the new norm in the post-COVID world where the unparalleled growth of e-commerce would certainly disrupt national and international retail frameworks.
Across the world, posts are reporting double digit growth in e-commerce transactions and delivery through the postal network.
The international light-logistics growth rate calculated by the UPU showed that cross-border exchanges worldwide have dropped by 21 percent since April 2020, which saw the outbreak of the crisis for all mail classes (letters, parcels and express).
In the specific case of the postal sector, an immediate and striking consequence of COVID-19 has been widespread disruption to international supply chains, resulting from constraints imposed on international transport, in particular aviation, influencing international transport capacity.
Another visible impact of the crisis for cross-border postal exchanges has been the increase in the time taken to clear items through customs, owing to additional inspections of both outbound and inbound items.
