23.03
2017

Five years of Omniva in Latvia: double growth every year

On 23 March 2012, Omniva’s operations were expanded to the Latvian market, with the company starting to provide courier services and opening the first parcel machines in Latvia. Today, the Latvian unit of Omniva has become one of the company’s fastest-growing sections.
 
The reasons for expanding outside of Estonia included a possibility for growth for the parcel business as a volume business, as well as for building a larger domestic market, and the wish of the company’s major international clients to approach the Baltic States as a common market and consume the service all across the Baltic area.
 
According to Joona Saluveer, Head of the Latvian unit of Omniva, the possibility for growth has already been clearly realised. “The business of Omniva in Latvia has doubled every year and the growth has also continued in the first months of this year,” explained Joona Saluveer.
 
The growth of Omniva in Latvia and all across the Baltic States is supported by e-commerce and especially the rapid increase in ordering goods from abroad. According to the e-commerce barometer published in February, Latvia holds the first place among European countries in ordering from foreign online stores: 82% of Latvian online shoppers are ordering from abroad, while the European average is 52%. The figure is also high in the case of other Baltic States: 75% for Lithuania and 71% for Estonia.
 
The first 29 parcel machines were installed in Latvia in November 2012. “Latvians, just like Estonians, accepted parcel machines very quickly. We installed a further 9 machines in the following year and expanded several existing machines,” recalled Saluveer.
 
In the following years, the parcel machine network has rapidly expanded in order to keep up with the growing e-commerce. Omniva has also increased its market share through the marketing and sales of parcel terminals as a simple and most convenient channel.
 
“We can already say that parcel machines have become the most preferred channel for sending and receiving parcels in Latvia, which is preferred by a large share of customers. This is also evident from our double growth compared to the general growth of the logistics market, which is approximately 10% per year,” added Saluveer.
 
Parcel machines have become especially popular among young people who prefer to receive their parcels at any time convenient for them, without having to take into consideration the opening times of the post office and without having to communicate with the customer service personnel. “Thanks to their simplicity and convenience, parcel machines will undoubtedly also remain the most important channel in the future,” said Saluveer.
 
Currently, Omniva has 85 parcel machines in Latvia. With the 124 parcel machines in Estonia and 67 machines in Lithuania, this constitutes the largest parcel machine network in the Baltic area. Omniva is planning to expand and diversify the network further in 2017 by installing various types of parcel machines depending on the needs of specific areas and the use of the service. This way, the parcel machines will also arrive at smaller settlements and rural areas in the near future.
 

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