Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1086539
11 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 27 FEBRUARY 2019 BUSINESS THE Malta Communications Au- thority (MCA) yesterday the results of a Household Perception Survey carried out between July and August 2018. The following are some of the main findings of the study, based on telephone interview responses of 500 households. The survey results confirm the trend of declining demand for addressed letter mail resulting from e-substitu- tion and substantial increases in pack- ets and parcel volumes resulting from the growth in eCommerce. Whereas letter mail volume decline continues to drive changes, the growing ecom- merce industry creates new oppor- tunities and demands for the postal market to respond to and to minimise the negative impact of letter volume decline. Overall Service Quality 74% of respondents report being sat- isfied with MaltaPost's overall quality of postal service. A decrease from 94% in 2016. Expenditure 42% of respondents report to have spent less than €5 on posting articles in the last twelve months as against 28% in 2016. Sending and Receiving Letters 59% of respondents (58% in 2016) re- port that the number of addressed let- ters received per week remained the same over the past 12 months, 34% of respondents (32% in 2016) report a decrease, and only 6% (unchanged from 2016) report an increase in the number of letters received. Meanwhile, 43% of households re- port not sending any mail, 31% report that the amount of mail sent remained the same, 24% report a decrease, and only 2% report an increase. The most common alternatives to sending let- ters are jointly email and voice com- munications. Sending and Receiving Parcels 27% of respondents report an in- crease in the number of parcels re- ceived in the last 12 months, up from 18% two years earlier. MaltaPost and DHL were identified as the two opera- tors that were most likely to deliver a parcel to a home address. Delivery of a parcel to a home address remains the preferred method of receipt for 93% of respondents. 14% of respondents report to have sent a parcel with Mal- taPost in the last twelve months. Only 3% of all respondents used an operator other than MaltaPost to send a parcel. Prices of Postal Services 43% of respondents would consider using an alternate service if the price of letter mail were to increase by 5-10%, with email being most com- monly cited as a potential alternate service. Respondents are likelier to find the price of a parcel sent overseas to be less reasonable than in 2016. 67% of respondents believe that registered mail prices are reasonable (a decrease from 72% in 2016). Use of Postcodes The number of respondents who claim to always write the postcode when sending a letters has fallen from 63% in 2016 to 45% in 2018. 63% of respondents claim to be unaware of MaltaPost's online Post Code finder. Speed of Delivery 66% of respondents report next day delivery (D+1) to be an acceptable lead-time, up from 58% in 2016. When asked to compare next day delivery (D+1) to deferred delivery (D+3) at a cheaper price, 43% of respondents would consider deferred delivery de- pending on the urgency of the postal article. However, another 41% of re- spondents answered that they would not opt for deferred delivery, irrespec- tive of urgency. Acceptability of a five-day week 54% of respondents would find a five-day week for the delivery of postal articles as acceptable, instead of the standard six-day week. 15% would find a five-day week to be a minor incon- venience whilst 18% would find a five- day week to be inconvenient but work- able. Only 13% would consider it to be a major inconvenience. When asked on whether they could trade-off between delivery frequency and price, respond- ents were evenly split (51%-49%) be- tween maintaining the 6-day service at a price increase and switching to a 5-day service at current prices. Visiting the Post Office 73% of respondents claim to have visited a post office within the past 12 months, down from 84% in 2016. Respondents noted paying bills (42%) and collecting parcels (46%) as the main reasons for visiting the post of- fice. 76% of respondents claim to be satisfied with the opening hours of MaltaPost's post offices. However, only 15% report being very satisfied with waiting times, down from 43% in 2016. Complaint Handling 45% of respondents who contacted MaltaPost did so in order to make a complaint. These complainants make up 7% of all the people surveyed (10% in 2016). The most common complaints relate to loss of mail (46%) followed by delay (17%), with misdelivery and fail- ure to attempt delivery by a postal offic- er jointly at 14%. Of those respondents who claim to have filed a complaint, 54% were not satisfied with Malta- Post's handling of their complaint (15% in 2016) whilst only 21% claim to have been satisfied (71% in 2016). Website Usage 31% of respondents report to have used MaltaPost's website. The major- ity use MaltaPost's website for track- ing parcels, followed by searching for postcodes and product information. The survey function at the MCA As regulator for postal services, the Malta Communications Au- thority (MCA) carries out market research on a regular basis. The aim of this market research is to guide the Authority's decisions, the effects of which are felt by consumers and businesses alike, by providing an ad- ditional source of information for such decisions. This survey forms part of a series of surveys examin- ing households, businesses and bulk mailers use of postal services and is intended to assess the extent of sat- isfaction amongst households with the services provided by MaltaPost, as well as to monitor a number of as- pects related to the sustainability of postal services (such as price levels, quality and access). Methodology and Fieldwork The MCA Postal Perceptions Sur- vey addressed to households was carried out by EMCS Consulting on behalf of the MCA via the use of Telephone Computer-assisted in- terviewing (CATI). Each question- naire lasted around 20 minutes to complete. 500 respondents over the age of 18 were chosen randomly in order to create a representative sam- ple, with each respondent identified as being the person mainly respon- sible for the mail in their household. Respondents' identities are anony- mous, and all relevant information will be presented in aggregate. Client satisfaction on postal services sees sharp drop between 2016 and 2018 MCA Consumer Perception Survey 54% of respondents would find a five-day week for the delivery of postal articles as acceptable, instead of the standard six-day week