Thinking Outside the Mailbox

Murray Martin, chief executive of Pitney Bowes, was interviewed by reporter Matt Hartley for a Q and A article titled Thinking Outside the Mailbox which appears on Canada's Financial Post website.

Hartley asked Martin, "Let’s start with the legacy business of Pitney Bowes, which is the postal services. We’re seeing a lot of changes in the postal industry and we recently went through a labour dispute here in Canada with Canada Post. People are starting to receive much of what they once got in the mail — such as magazines and bills — via the Internet. With all that changing technology, what role do you expect the postal system and Pitney Bowes to play going forward?"

Martin's response...

"First of all, I think the postal networks around the world are very last-mile delivery networks. There are a lot of things that will need to be delivered in the last mile. As you look at e-commerce, it is increasing the number of deliveries that are required. You have small parcels which are really mail; that side is going to continue to grow while you have shrinkage in letter volume. It will change the dynamics of the way postal networks operate around the world, how they need to be competitive with others that are in the last-mile area, but they certainly have an advantage because they have a mandate for global coverage.

"When it comes to Pitney Bowes, a lot of the mail that we process is transaction mail. That has had very low digital conversion globally. Our type of mail has not had a major transition. However, we are launching digital products that will supply secure delivery of those value transactional documents so they don’t get lost in email, spam filters, or so they don’t cause the consumer to go to a dozen different websites and remember different passwords and log ins to get their information."

Shown above, Murray Martin, chief executive of Pitney Bowes.

To read the entire article, click here.