Abdulla Mohammed Alashram, Group CEO of Emirates Post Group Company, shares his valuable knowledge on the developing last mile industry.
Emirates Post Group Company (EPG), an enterprise that conducts business throughout the Emirates and beyond with its headquarters in Dubai, is a Public Joint Stock Company governed by the Emirates Investment Authority (EIA). Along with its official fintech arm, FINTX, and its digital solutions arm, Electronic Documents Centre (EDC), it manages and supervises its postal operational division, Emirates Post. The Company’s portfolio is crucial to advancing the country’s strategy to become a global leader in logistics, eCommerce, financial inclusion, and digital integration.
Current Courier Delivery Landscape
The courier express parcel industry in the region is experiencing significant growth and development. With the increasing demand for online shopping and the rapid expansion of e-commerce, the need for reliable and efficient delivery services has surged both for e-tailers and customers. Customers who used to be happy with several-days to week-long delivery dates are now looking for next-day and same-day deliveries of their packages. These increasing and changing demands will drive the growth of the industry. It will also drive innovation and technological advancements to cater to these demands.
Additionally, we know that the UAE is a valuable market for cross-border e-commerce retailers, and the retailers are investing and expanding into the region accordingly. Our efforts are focused on promoting the UAE as a seamless gateway and strategic logistics hub facilitating cross-border e-Commerce traffic into the UAE and region, and you need a strong local last-mile partner to address the complexities that come with cross-border e-commerce transactions – Emirates Post is that partner for the UAE and GCC region.
Challenges
Given that the industry is growing fast, three challenges are on top of mind:
- Skilled Talent: Talent acquisition and retention are critical challenges in the logistics industry, especially as the industry grows and demand for the right talent is high. Attracting, recruiting, and training the right skills can be challenging, especially in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
- Technology: The challenges mainly revolve around managing the fast growth of e-commerce volumes, harnessing the opportunities from cross-border business, and continuing the digital transformation of our retail and back-office activities. Grasping and benefitting from the digital ecosystem of AI, robotics, automation, big data, IoT, blockchain, 3D printing, and drone technology will undoubtedly grow the industry. It is more than just a matter of ‘upgrading or digitising’ – especially with legacy systems (technology) issues.
- Changing Industry Trends. Given that the industry is fast-paced and dynamic, it is vital to stay ahead of the game, informed of global trends, and caught up.
Increased Competition
Our commitment to excellence and customer satisfaction has been our guiding principle. The testament we receive from our valued customers and partners is the most accurate measure of our performance and success. Furthermore, we secured the bid for the UAE to host the 28th edition of the Universal Postal Congress, which will be held in Dubai in 2025. This achievement reflects the confidence industry leaders and postal operators have placed in us. There is good competition out there, and that is why at EPG, we continuously strive to raise the bar, innovate, and adapt to the evolving needs of our market, consistently providing efficient, reliable, and customer-centric solutions.
Digital Transformation
EPG is dedicated to being at the forefront of technological innovation in the logistics industry, supporting our long-term plans of meeting the evolving needs of our customers and the market. Our digital team is always looking to digitise our current way of operations, products, and services to provide enhanced innovative solutions and drive growth in the logistics industry. EPG is on track regarding its digital strategy; 2023 is witnessing a significant leap in digitisation efforts across all our businesses, introducing new digital programmes, products, and solutions in the first half of 2024.
Sustainability
The logistics sector plays a vital role in the global economy by facilitating the movement of goods, ensuring the availability of products, and supporting various industries. However, it is also true that logistics operations contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, primarily using fossil fuels in transportation and warehousing activities. These emissions contribute to climate change and significantly impact the environment.
Thus, the logistics sector must address sustainability and reduce its environmental footprint. Adopting greener practices, such as ensuring the buildings and warehouses it operates from are sustainably managed with improved energy efficiency, using alternative fuels and optimised transportation routes, and implementing sustainable packaging solutions, can help mitigate the environmental impact. Additionally, investing in technology, such as electric vehicles and renewable energy sources, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in logistics operations. Ensuring business partners operate sustainably helps create this environmentally conscious business community or model.
At Emirates Post Group, we recognise that our actions today have a lasting impact on the environment, society, and the well-being of future generations. Therefore, we have integrated sustainability as a priority into our business strategy. We are benchmarking our plans against other global players and partners and looking at implementing best practices into our daily operations. We have begun to measure our carbon footprint to find ways to reduce our impact year on year.
Future Plans
At EPG, we are currently undergoing a strategic restructuring to position the organisation as the logistics market enabler in the UAE. The new structure follows the organisation’s transition to a Public Joint Stock Company.
As a Group, we will focus on our new five-year strategy to drive growth in Postal, Courier Express Parcels, Fintech, and other ventures. So as our existing subsidiaries undergo the necessary effective changes to stay updated with changing market dynamics and the ongoing evolution of the overall logistics industry, we will also create new business units and subsidiaries to achieve our vision.
We will utilise our strengths, capabilities, and partnerships to grow the organisation and reach new heights as we continue to build on our rich history, solid foundation, and talented workforce … stay tuned!
