Navigating the future of shipping and postal services

AI, automation, and analytics

We are witnessing a real-time technology revolution where artificial intelligence is reshaping how we work, live, and play. As service providers, postal and shipping organizations deal with high volume and high complexity of data as part of core operations. Today’s customers expect these organizations to leverage technology like AI¹ to responsibly enhance the accuracy, speed, and quality of service. But it’s more than technology—at Deloitte, we help our clients navigate the changes it brings, whether it’s training staff or protecting valuable data and supporting privacy. We help organizations leverage AI for various purposes, including fraud prevention, mail processing, customer experience enhancement, and legacy code modernization, which can lead to cost savings, improved productivity, and competitive advantages in today’s fast-paced delivery landscape.

¹Karim R. Lakhani, “AI won’t replace humans—but humans with AI will replace humans without AI,” Harvard Business Review, August 4, 2023. 

Customer growth

Customers increasingly long for speed and convenience² , favoring brands that streamline processes, make information readily available, and simplify transactions. Meeting customers where they are is now a standard expectation, which can be a challenge for postal and shipping organizations with complex ecosystems of commercial and residential customers. For postal agencies, creating an effective customer experience is about creating touch points that build satisfaction, trust, and loyalty. Deloitte’s approach focuses on putting the customer at the center of everything our clients do. Using human-centered design and data science to collect and synthesize customer insights, we help organizations better understand customer needs, target key customer segments, and design new products, experiences, and technologies. We also help organizations build robust customer analytics capabilities and organize customer data through the design and implementation of customer data platforms so postal organizations can be intentional about their outreach and services to customers and offer personalization.

²Jay Baer, Time to win: The Consumer Patience Study, Ursus 10, LLC, 2022.

Cyber

In today’s rapidly evolving digital economy, commercial and government entities find themselves in a continuous battle against cybercriminals. The challenge is not just keeping up but staying ahead, to secure their organizations and protect their customers. Postal and shipping organizations are faced with securing vast amounts of sensitive data, protecting against sophisticated cyberthreats, and maintaining trust. At Deloitte, we assist postal and shipping organizations in navigating the uncertain cybersecurity landscape with confidence, leveraging trusted identities and secure applications. Our approach equips our clients with a broad set of cyber solutions across all dimensions: governance and policy, people, process, technology, and data. When one of our postal industry clients needed to enhance its IT network’s security, we helped it protect critical stakeholders, including its employees. Together, we implemented advanced security technologies to help the client bolster its identity and access management security program, bringing new levels of protection.

Finance

Finance and accounting departments are increasingly focused on using big data, analytics, and predictive modeling to inform strategy and make decisions. These new technologies automate routine tasks, giving more time for planning, forecasting, and other mission-focused activities. Deloitte operates across finance, compliance, and reporting to help postal and shipping organizations achieve their finance goals and objectives. Our Assurance by Design (AbD) approach helps clients effectively manage operational and strategic risks, with an included emphasis on controls and compliance. We have assisted global postal and shipping clients in the deployment of new finance technologies and solutions, helping finance organizations to achieve a higher level of performance and greater value to their organizations.

Operations

Customers want their goods delivered quickly, securely, and directly to their doorsteps. At the same time, costs of labor, energy, and capital are making operations more expensive. Legacy parcel networks and postal agencies are feeling the pressure to meet these growing demands while staying in budget. Deloitte has a demonstrated track record of assisting clients with the operational excellence needed to not just survive, but thrive, in this demanding landscape. Our solutions are designed to help postal and shipping enterprises scale and automate processes, improving productivity and safety while reducing maintenance costs. Our approach puts the customer first, removing waste and equipping an enterprise to reach new heights. We have assisted postal organizations in transportation network automation, facilities modernization, and in the launch of new fleet technologies. As part of these efforts, we have also assisted with enterprise transformations. In doing so, we have helped postal and shipping organizations improve efficiency, provide better customer experience, and increase financial sustainability.

People and workforce

COVID-19 and digital transformation rapidly changed how and where work gets done. Commercial and government organizations need new ways of thinking about workforces, workplaces, and the work experience to adapt to these changes. Postal and shipping companies are challenged to innovate, digitize, maximize productivity, and increase revenue, all while reducing cost and risk and contributing to their communities and customers. Deloitte helps clients build and sustain an adaptable organization; compose a workforce that drives productivity and value; reimagine work that empowers their employees to find purpose in the impact they bring; and deliver equitable outcomes to both employees and communities. Our capabilities and HR strategies have positioned postal and shipping organizations to better compete in the market. We have helped organizations become more agile and enabled them to evolve to navigate an increasingly tight talent market and have empowered employees to meet the current and future needs of the organization.

Systems development and innovation

Commercial and government organizations need ways to leverage systems and reshape the way they serve their customers. Postal agencies are navigating significant challenges—from the digital disruption of traditional mail services to the increased demand for efficient package delivery. Deloitte brings capabilities in application development and cloud engineering and deep experience in no-code/low-code platforms. Our approach focuses on delivering return on investment, using our software engineering Generative AI prompting techniques to produce high-quality, timely, and cost-effective outcomes. We work with clients across the global postal and shipping industry to implement AI across analytics and GenAI and lead platform application development (including application modernization and cloud migrations). Our work has helped postal agencies leverage systems to improve efficiency and provide better customer service, employee experience, and overall scalability.

Technology

With the exponential increase in package shipping volumes, organizations need to meet growing demands from customers and reduce employee workloads. Deploying new innovative, self-service, and mobile technologies across a postal organization’s large network is complex and challenging. From product design to testing and scaling, Deloitte assists clients across the technology life cycle. We offer capabilities in user-centered product design and management, marketing and communications, employee education, sales enablement, analytics, and deployment. We have assisted global posts to deploy thousands of new self-service technologies, increasing foot traffic to retail, providing faster transactions, and decreasing wait times in line. We’ve also led efforts with postal clients to modernize their suite of retail and delivery technologies, creating more efficiencies for employees and enhancing security. Our capabilities in this space have helped postal and shipping organizations innovate to meet evolving customer expectations, realize cost savings through modernization, and build a more sustainable network now and in the future.