Lithuanian national post carrier brings competition to Estonia
Lithuania's national postal carrier Lietuvos paštas has brought competition in the automated parcel machine sector in Estonia, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.
As of the end of last month, there were 1,370 automated parcel machines nationwide in Estonia, though, since the network across all three Baltic states is considered as one entity, Lietuvos paštas, is set to reach 1,460 machines by the end of the year.
This is slightly more than the 1,400 Omniva, who say the current market situation is quite tough, operates in the Baltic states; Lietuvos paštas is due to expand to 300 parcel machines in Estonia alone, in order to capture more customers during the most profitable season, i.e. Christmas time.
Omniva is a brand of national Estonian carrier Eesti Post.
Lietuvos paštas operates in Estonia under the Unisend brand, and since entering the market says it has delivered nearly a million shipments.
Tõnu Väät, head of the national e-commerce association, e-kaubanduse liit, said that competition will certainly increase: Retailers now have the choice of six different delivery partners, including DPD and SmartPosti, as well as Unisend and Omniva.
At the same time, delivery firms which conduct automated sorting on-site will have an advantage, he said.
"[Competitor] Venipak or Unisend do not have logistics centers in Estonia, so perhaps sorting is still being done manually in a large warehouse, or it comes from Lithuania. But for example, Omniva and DPD have built themselves very sophisticated sorting centers, where robots really do the work and parcels move very quickly. That definitely provides an advantage," Väät said.
Lietuvos paštas CEO Kastytis Valantinas says the company plans to increase both incoming international and domestic transport volumes, including routes between Tartu and Tallinn, Tallinn and Pärnu, and Rakvere and Tartu.
As recently as April, Valantinas was Omniva COO and a board member.
Omniva's commercial director Sven Kukemelk noted that while "the market is indeed growing, new entrants are coming in faster and in greater numbers than the market itself is growing," creating pressure, Kukemelk said the company is not overly concerned, aiming to stay ahead of competitors by offering "our goal is indeed to be as fast as possible, to do things better than them, and to be a step ahead of them," with their parcel machine network expansion already to be completed in 2014.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Veronika Uibo
Source: 'Aktuaalne kaamera,' reporter Veronika Uibo.
