Lower costs per item while ensuring reliable network performance

In 2024, we focused on streamlining our e-commerce operations, maintaining a reliable network, and delivering high-quality services tailored to customer needs, particularly in high-volume, low-margin segments. However, the e-commerce sector has changed, marked by rising costs, a tight labour market, evolving consumer behaviour and client concentration, and has become more mature. By simplifying standard delivery offerings and investing in automation and digitalisation, we improved efficiency, reduced per-item costs, and ensured dependable service. As a result, the average costs per package have fallen significantly in 2024, reflecting the impact of our strategic focus on operational excellence and cost control.

Despite these efforts, we were unable to pass on all cost increases to customers during the year, which impacted our ability to fully offset inflationary and other price pressures. Nonetheless, our scalable infrastructure and predictive data capabilities enable us to manage growing parcel volumes more cost-effectively, strengthening our network and sustaining the reliability customers expect.

Competitive cost structure in e-commerce

In 2024, we worked to optimise our product assortment, reducing unnecessary complexity. Our primary objective is to solidify our competitive positioning by developing a streamlined product-price architecture (PPA). This PPA will allow us to better implement our strategy, deliver greater value to our customers, and respond more effectively to evolving market demands. To achieve this, we are focusing on optimising our core product and pricing structures, supported by strategic IT solutions. Together, we believe these steps will help us create a more streamlined, effective, and customer-friendly approach to e-commerce:

• Clear products: We have defined clear product fundamentals, including a robust PPA hierarchy, which simplifies product life-cycle management and aids strategic decision-making. This clear structure also establishes strong ownership and governance across PostNL.
• Simplification: By creating a well-defined product hierarchy, we have simplified performance monitoring and management of product additions or removals, enabling more agile responses to market shifts.
• Optimising base products: We are making key changes to ensure a realistic product-price system for customers. This also reduces inefficiencies related to parcel size variability and complexity in our order-to-cash processes.
• Refined service levels and pricing options: By simplifying service levels and reducing optional add-ons, we aim to eliminate distortions and unneeded discount structures, easing the configuration process and enhancing the customer experience.
• Enhanced IT solutions: We are currently evaluating shortlisted IT solutions which will be used to support our PPA requirements, with the aim of reducing internal complexity and making product and price management faster and more intuitive.

Importance of out-of-home delivery

In a fast-changing e-commerce market, we are well positioned to meet growing consumer expectations and enhance our out-of-home (OOH) network as a core pillar of strategic growth.

Benefits of OOH

Consumers now demand greater convenience, favouring options such as digital self-service for returns and flexible delivery choices. While home delivery remains popular, OOH solutions are on the rise, as consumers look for maximum convenience. At the same time, rising costs and inflation affect both PostNL and retail partners, and OOH deliveries prove to be more cost-effective, supporting an optimised, efficient network that better meets financial demands. Additionally, labour shortages continue to add pressure, and OOH, with its lower labour intensity, offers a practical solution. Sustainability for customers, consumers and PostNL is top-of-mind, and delivering to OOH points helps reduce emissions, vehicle mileage, and congestion, aligning with our environmental goals and leadership in ESG practices.

OOH progress and outlook

In 2024, we accelerated the expansion of our OOH network and the roll-out of APLs, which we grew to 1,083 across the Netherlands, from around 900 at year-end 2023. At the same time, we had over 3,400 retail points. Our goal is to achieve 20% OOH volume by 2029, which we aim to reach by accelerating the roll-out of APLs to around 600 annually and through a stable network of retail locations, which will enable us to continue offering customers and consumers the delivery options they want.

Continually enhancing logistics flow

Moving to a wave network

At PostNL, the strength of our network lies in seamless integration across all stages of the logistics chain. Our first mile plays a crucial role in supporting our customers’ success and enhancing the receiver net promoter score (rNPS) by aligning with their needs. The middle mile ensures a distinctive e-commerce experience and a reliable last-mile delivery for mail. To maintain a network that is both comprehensible and operationally sound, we design services that are efficient, sustainable, and create engaging, meaningful work. However, the need for change is pressing. Market price pressure continues to rise, sustainability remains a challenge, and we see declining order volumes within the our time-critical network. To address these challenges, we are making strategic choices to safeguard reliability and cost efficiency while ensuring our networks remain fit for the future.

One of the key transformations is the shift from a time-critical network to a wave-based model, improving efficiency and predictability. Smart planning algorithms, combined with structural stops only, will enable better scheduling, ensuring a more even distribution of workloads and optimised routes. Additionally, we are further differentiating between our bulk package network and a network designed for larger delivery stops, ensuring greater clarity and efficiency. We began implementing these changes in 2024, and aim to complete them in 2026-2027.

These changes bring tangible benefits. By optimising district operations with structured volume orders, logical routing, and improved time-slot planning, we make the work offering more attractive for employees, reduce costs per package and letter, and enhance the sustainability of our logistics network. By looking at our networks in an integrated manner, we ensure that PostNL remains resilient, efficient, and ready to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving market.