Courier companies expand as competition bites
Although most courier companies operating in Poland focus on expanding their operations, some have already started to go beyond simply carrying parcels to services such as warehousing and logistics.
Although many small courier companies operate throughout Poland, the major players are all internationally based and control about 90% of the market, according to Jacek Przybylowski, marketing manager of Polkurier, the local affiliate of U.S.-based United Parcel Service (UPS).
He said some of these companies include the U.S.' DHL International (Poland), Sweden-based Masterlink, Netherlands-based TNT Express Worldwide (Poland), Warsaw-based Stolica, Germany-based Servisco, and the U.K.-owned Szybka Paczka.
Przybylowski said that to make an acceptable profit, a courier company needs a network of 30-40 offices around the country. He said that although the initial start-up is expensive, it's generally more profitable for large courier firms to deliver inter-city parcels than to only develop a network within a given city. He said smaller Polish courier companies, however, tend to focus on the less profitable local market. A firm such as X-press Bikers, for example, is a courier company that uses motorcycles to deliver parcels around Warsaw.
Overall, the capital dominates courier services, taking some 40-50% of total market share. Przybylowski said industry turnover is worth about $150 million and each year the number of deliveries increases by 20-30% as courier services become more popular among Polish businesses. But the economic slowdown could affect the industry, Przybylowski said.
Additionally prices for courier services are relatively high. "If somebody wants us to distribute coal, we won't help him because the price of the product doesn't compare to the value," Przybylowski said. A customer would have to pay UPS zl. 170 to transport 100 kilograms of coal worth zl. 24. That's why courier services focus on delivering small parcels, he said.
Although all couriers claim the industry is growing rapidly, with some saying it will expand by 20% this year, companies are eager to grab a bigger share of the market by introducing additional services. For example, Stolica recently introduced a service for heavy packages that can weigh up to 2,500 kilograms. "Generally, courier companies want to transport everything," said Ewa Kaczmarek, press spokeswoman for Stolica.
Within a few years there will be a number of companies on the market offering a range of services including warehousing and transporting large volumes of cargo such as cars or e-commerce shipments, Przybylowski said. "When a portfolio of transport services dries up, new solutions have to be found," he added. According to Przybylowski, Stolica plans to spend $2.5 million on furnishing a new warehouse, while UPS plans to introduce e-commerce into its activities this year, although he would not give any details. He said UPS plans for e-commerce business include acting as an intermediary for companies that send and receive confidential documents by email.
Przybylowski said companies will inevitably increase the number of documents sent by email, especially when Parliament passes the new law on e-signatures. "Companies like ours will lose this part of the market as it will go by Internet," he said. "We have to try to turn this around to our advantage."
