Swiss Post is expanding its services that combine the physical and digital worlds. Furthermore, it is launching new services that can be used via a mobile phone.People can call up information while on the move, read the mail delivered to their homes via the Swiss Post Box electronic mailbox and handle payments and account queries via PostFinance Mobile.By creating the product house «eSolutions» in its Swiss Post Solutions unit and offering innovative products for both business and private customers, Swiss Post is turning into a hybrid service provider.

With online services for private and business customers and the digitization of documents and their integration into electronic business processes, Swiss Post has been well positioned on the market for innovative services for years.Swiss Post is pursuing a systematic innovation strategy which, in addition to expanding its central function as a hub between the physical and digital worlds, now also makes it possible to develop offers that can be used via modern mobile devices.

Swiss Post Apps being expanded

The first «Apps» will soon become available, starting with the new Smartphone application from Swiss Post. The new Swiss Post App is useful for meeting information needs in particular and will complement the internet portal.Users will appreciate the Swiss Post location search, price inquiries and the consignment tracking function as important components of the Swiss Post App.It is now possible to find out where the nearest post office is or until when the nearest express counter will remain open – conveniently from a mobile phone.It is also possible to obtain an answer about whether a parcel is already on its way and where the PickPost point for collection is located.Both applications use a clear navigation, efficient search filter and are based on a card which takes the user’s location into account, if requested.The app also provides information about the most important prices for mailing letters and parcels.

The Swiss Post App was developed for iPhones, iPads and android mobile phones and will also be available for operating systems such as Symbian and Windows Mobile 7 by the end of 2010.All enquiries can also be handled via the mobile phone browser.Expansions are being assessed which would allow customers to access services and, for instance, place orders via their mobile phone.In addition, PostFinance will launch an app for financial services in late summer.Payments made directly from a postal account via a mobile phone are already a reality – and are exclusive in Switzerland.

The Swiss Post Box was launched in summer 2009 as an iPhone app for business customers.Physical mail can be scanned upon request and made available on a secure Internet portal and then archived or destroyed.Mobile access to a personal electronic mailbox will now be more attractive, thanks to a new price schedule for private customers, as they will pay only for the time actually used – for instance, if they do not want to miss out on reading their daily post while on holiday.

Specific innovation management

Mobile access to the company’s information and services is part of the specific development of Swiss Post’s strategy.In all its markets it is developing into a hybrid service provider that integrates the physical and electronic worlds securely and credibly.By creating the product house «eSolutions» in the business unit Swiss Post Solutions, which now develops services for all markets and customer groups, it is also developing the necessary organizational measures.The traditional offerings in Swiss Post’s four markets will be supplemented in an even more targeted way with innovative products.E-banking and PostFinance Mobile are examples of this strategy in the retail financial market.E-logistics and the online dispatch in the logistics market or timetable displays in real time and on-board computers equipped with GPRS in the public transport sector are other applications that have already been introduced.The communication market offers Swiss Post considerable growth potential for electronic solutions.Here, Swiss Post is one of the leading innovators, for instance with document management. Digitization, electronic processing and archiving of business documents, the official digital identity Post SuisseID and its integration into the SwissStick are actual applications. All of these initiatives are made possible by Swiss Post’s considerable IT expertise within the Swiss Post Group.