Post office adds ‘e’ to its mail services
Print Edition
The Xinzhuang branch post office on Xinjian Road has a new look with a new function: selling imported products.
Its new store, called HI House, offers to help people with online purchases from overseas.
By the end of the month, three more post offices will also open HI House units, according to the Minhang District Post Office.
“Although e-commerce is prevalent in China, there are still a lot of people who don’t know how to buy products from overseas or are unfamiliar with shopping online,” said Huang Bin, an official with the post office. “HI House aims to provide a channel for such people.”
The post office store displays available products so customers can decide what they want to buy before placing orders online. Shop assistants help them complete the orders, and the post office delivers the products to the addresses provided by buyers.
A consumer surnamed Cai said she went to the Xinzhuang HI House to buy baby formula from overseas.
“In the past, I always ordered baby formula myself online, but there have been news reports of such packets being filled with fake milk powder,” she said. “So I think buying it at the post office is safer. I can see the product and read the bar codes with my own eyes. Also, the prices of the baby formula here are no higher than those bought directly online.”
Huang said the store at present mainly provides baby products, foods and beverages, and household supplies. The variety of goods will increase gradually, eventually rising to more than 500 types of products.
“The prices of the products are more or less the same as those in supermarkets specializing in imported goods,” said Huang.
The setting up of the HI House is a new initiative of the Shanghai Post Office, which is trying to capitalize on the benefits offered by the Shanghai Free Trade Zone that opened last year.
The zone has eased regulations on the import and distribution of foreign-made products. The post office has added a new express delivery service to expedite shipment of goods to home doorsteps.
Officials said HI House will eventually evolve into a major source of products for health and body care.
Minhang has 12 major post offices, and HI Houses will be set up in all of them by year’s end, postal authorities said.
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