External developments, strategy and outlook
As we move further into 2025, we are actively working towards a future-proof and financially sustainable postal market, improving margins in e-commerce, strengthening resilience, and continuing to adapt to evolving market dynamics.
We anticipate rising operational costs, volatile consumer spending, and increasing demands for sustainability—ranging from emissions-free delivery to the reform of labour conditions. These challenges require continuous innovation, not only to meet customer expectations but also to ensure a more balanced distribution of value across the industry. Despite these pressures, we remain committed to strengthening our financial performance while maintaining a customer-centric approach. Our strategic objective is to deliver a distinctive customer and consumer experience, positioning ourselves as the leading e-commerce and postal service provider within, to, and from the Benelux.
In e-commerce, we are seeing increasing client concentration, necessitating yield measures to enhance customer value and improve margins. The growing impact of AI and other technological advancements presents opportunities to meet evolving customer demands more effectively while enhancing operational efficiency through automation in route optimisation and sorting. In 2025, we will further integrate our solutions into checkout processes, reinforcing our role as a key enabler of seamless delivery experiences.
To support the continued growth of e-commerce, we will optimise our network to ensure more efficient and reliable parcel deliveries, enabling customers to scale through both digital and physical services. Accelerating the expansion of our out-of-home (OOH) network remains a priority, with further additions to our 1,080 strategically placed APLs. These enhancements will provide consumers and SMEs with greater convenience while advancing our decarbonisation goals.
Our international strategy includes accelerating cross-border e-commerce through Spring, our global e-commerce solutions provider. With the integration of Logistics Solutions’ fulfilment operations into CBS from 1 January 2025, we will expand across key European locations, strengthening our presence in Belgium and other markets across Western and Eastern Europe. By enhancing Spring’s sales capacity and reinforcing network connections, we aim to simplify and support sustainable international deliveries while maintaining our position as a leading last-mile provider in the Benelux. As consumer expectations evolve, we are adapting by offering greater flexibility, transparency, and digital solutions.
Our people remain at the heart of our success. We will continue to prioritise employee motivation and engagement while intensifying efforts to reduce sick leave and foster a safe, inspiring work environment. Attracting and retaining committed employees remains essential to delivering on our strategy.