Digitalisation is becoming the buzzword at BotswanaPost as it introduces its newest offering which is geared at enhancing the traditional post box as we know it.
All this is in line with the post’s efforts of making a significant impact in the digitization of doing business in Botswana as envisioned by their biggest shareholder, the government of Botswana. Virtual Post Box (VPB) is a merging of the organisation’s core mandate – provision of postal services in an efficient and cost effective manner.
The Virtual Post Box affords customers to register their mobile phone numbers to be used as their designated Post Box number to receive mail and related services from BotswanaPost. The customer’s mobile number will be linked to a post office of their choice for mail delivery. Furthermore, the customer also has a choice to opt for home/office delivery.
“This is a departure from the commonly known old style postal box characterized by the uniquely addressable, lockable box located on the premises of a Post Office station. Post Office boxes are rented by individuals or by businesses on an annual basis and the cost of rent vary depending on the type of box which is private and or individual,” said the information provided.
This offering is of value especially to Small, medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) as it provides them with the capacity to operate as one stop shops. The Virtual Post Box places clients at the forefront of technology, resulting in reliability of unmatched customer service.
The unique development of the Virtual Post Box fits into our strategy of bringing services to our customers with ease. The service comes in at a time when the world is still dealing with the COVID – 19 pandemic and ensuring we operate within the prescribed protocol. This has necessitated transformation into the digital space.” Chief Commercial Officer – Clifford Lekoko explained.
“The virtual Post Box is in line with our Mission of “Providing affordable convenience through high quality profitable postal and diversified products and services” where we leverage on technology as a major business sustainability anchor in the face of diminishing traditional postal business. This will facilitate and enable E-Commerce for the diverse market we serve as it gives the customer power in terms of cost and tracking of one’s mail.”- General Manager Courier & Mail Business – Tumelo Mereyotlhe.
The new service will give customers a smart and convenient way to manage their postal mail remotely. Besides that it’s more affordable compared to the normal postal box, it saves customers time to visit the postal branch due to mail incoming notifications. This also gives Customers an opportunity to re – direct mail to their current location and the mail is securely monitored via tracking system and safely stored in the post office for collection.
Above everything else, the online portal will give a history of all customer mail acting as a mail management system thus making it possible to monitor the customers’ mail volumes. Anyone above the age of 18 can open a virtual post box.
