We accelerate our customers' success and ensure consumers can count on us
In 2023, we continued to focus on strengthening our business model by accelerating our digital transformation and executing our strategy. This is enabling us to deliver a distinctive customer and consumer experience to be the leading e-commerce and postal services provider in, to and from the Benelux. In a market with challenging external developments, we are innovating to adjust to the changing needs of our customers and consumers. We measure customer and consumer experience using net promoter score (NPS)(see text below), while our focus areas to drive and capture e-commerce growth and provide accessible, reliable and affordable services are measured through volume growth and delivery quality. In this chapter we provide an overview of our performance and the steps we took in 2023 to create more customer and consumer value.
Performance summary
Customer experience
PostNL NPS as indicated
2022 - 2023
| Year ended at 31 December | 2022 | 2023 | Outlook 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net Promotor Score | not reported | Average No. 1 position in relevant markets | Average No. 1 position in relevant markets |
In 2023, we switched to using net promoter score (NPS) to measure customer experience. As a customer loyalty metric, NPS measures the likelihood of customers recommending a company, product, or service to others by asking them to rate, on a scale of 0 to 10, how likely they are to recommend the business. We obtained an average number one position in our relevant markets, which relate to post, parcels and international delivery, and our ambition is to maintain this leading position. How we worked on continuously improving our company and service offerings in 2023 is explained throughout this chapter.
E-commerce growth
PostNL Volume development as indicated
2022 - 2023
| Year ended at 31 December | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Parcel volume (in million items) | 344 | 343 |
| Development compared to prior year | (10%) | (0%) |
| Addressed mail volume (in million items) | 1,884 | 1,745 |
| Relative development compared to prior year | (8%) | (7%) |
Parcel volumes were essentially flat in 2023. The drop in consumer spending impacted domestic parcel and logistics volumes. While consumers in the Netherlands purchased fewer goods domestically, they bought more from Asia, and increasingly purchased smaller, lower-value goods. This positive trend at our cross-border activities resulted in increased revenues at Spring, most strongly in Asia.
“We want to offer all of our customers the experience they expect and demand”
Accessible, reliable and affordable services
PostNL Delivery quality Share of items delivered on time
2022 - 2023
| Year ended at 31 December | 2022 | Goal 2023 | 2023 | Outlook 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delivery quality Parcels in NL | 98% | 98% | 97% | 95% - 98% |
| Delivery quality Mail in NL | 91% | 95% | 89% |
Delivery quality at Parcels was 97% in 2023, just below our 98% goal. While delivery quality was impacted by the spike in parcel volumes we experienced in May, as consumers ordered more than the market anticipated, we believe the figure we achieved reflects our ability to react swiftly to volume developments, the organisational changes we have introduced that highlight our commercial and operational focus towards e-commerce, and the ongoing hard work of our people.
At Mail in the Netherlands, delivery quality of consumer mail by the next delivery day was 89%, below the regulatory requirement of 95%. The very tight labour market and high rates of absenteeism (see the 'Social value' chapter for more information) strongly impacted delivery quality. Because the shortage is structural and impacts the entire economy, it remains a difficult issue to solve. However, PostNL was able to achieve a 96% delivery rate of these letters within two days. More information on the issues PostNL is facing in this area, as well as our position on the future of Mail in the Netherlands, can be found in the 'Our operating context' and the 'Financial value' chapters.