No More Business For Post Offices?

One simply cannot fight technology. First, bookstores are disappearing because more and more people are reading off their screens. This is something I can never fathom as I will always, always prefer paperbacks and a physical book to a mere screen.

 

Now, it seems that post offices are also struggling to barely survive. Gone are the days when people buy stamps in bulk, or go to the post office to send a postal order, international reply coupon, or post a letter. With emails, online funds transfer and cheques, things like postage stamps, postal orders and international reply coupons are slowly being phased out.

 

I notice this during my two recent trips to the post office to send out packages. I remember as much as five years back, the queue would always be very long and the stamp booklets will be filled to the brim. Now, people either use electronic stamps or frank their mail.

 

So when I was over at the post office, the queue was very short. In fact, when I was there, there were five counters but only two counters had serving staff. The rest of the counters were empty. Despite that, there were only two people in front of me - both sending packages. It seems that nowadays when people go to a post office, it is to send packages, and not to post letters or buy stamps anymore.

 

In order to innovate their dying business, our post offices are now venturing into other areas, like remittance of funds, sending reminder bills on behalf of banks, bill payments, and even cash loans. Anything to keep the business going.

 

I wonder if the post office will soon go the way of bookstores? Already I notice that people do not use stamps anymore. In fact, I have not had much to add to my stamp collection in recent years simply because no one sends letters out anymore. The only people who still keep the post offices going are those involved in online businesses who need to send out bulk orders. Because of all these online businesses, even shopping malls and boutiques are now suffering in silence due to their lack of sales.

 

It seems that the only business that is still going strong are those that belong to the basic necessities which one has to go out to in order to survive, like the food and beverage business, the medical business and the education business. Clothes can be bought online, books can be bought online, even computers and gadgets can be bought online. But one cannot eat online, nor can they go see a doctor online, nor learn how to read online if they did not know how to read.

 

Looks like in the near future, fewer and fewer businesses will be able to survive. I only hope that no more bookstores will be shut down, and the post offices will still remain where they are instead of shutting down totally.