Thank you.
My name is Harry Watson. I own and operate a grocery store advertising company called Triple 4 Advertising Ltd. It's located here in the city of Moose Jaw. I thank you for inviting me to speak today.
My company creates flyers as well as creating and printing various other signs material for independently owned grocery stores across four provinces.
The objective of my presentation is threefold: highlight the increased cost of distributing and mail via Canada Post, highlight the increased cost of postal mail versus courier service, and explain the issues encountered by having a postal code at the main post office instead of at our physical address.
Triple 4 Advertising Ltd. commenced operations in 1992. In the beginning, we circulated our flyers and sent all ad mail using Canada Post. Because of the cost, we have begun using alternate methods such as a website; a courier service; insertion into newspapers, which costs about 5¢ per copy; via transportation through our wholesale suppliers; hand delivery in small towns; and customer pickup at store locations.
In 2003, we sent out about 2,096,000 at a cost of 8.6¢ per flyer. In 2004, we sent out 7,000 less, but the cost was 8.9¢ per flyer. In 2015, the cost of a flyer was 14.28¢. This year in 2016, our cost per flyer is 17¢. That's a 97% increase in the cost of the flyers in that time. I'm in a very competitive position, I guess, because I'm in the grocery business.
In 1992, we sold a one-kilogram jar of Kraft Cheez Whiz for $5.88, and in 2016, we still sell a 900-gram jar of Kraft Cheez Whiz for $5.88. That's exactly 24 years later. In 1992, we sold cases of 24 355-millilitre Coca Colas for $8.99. In 2016, we sell cases of 24 355-millilitre Coca Colas for $6.99. That's 24 years later, but $2.00 cheaper. In 1992, we sold one litre of Heinz ketchup for $2.99, and in 2016, 24 years later, we still sell one litre of Heinz ketchup for $2.99. That is what competition will do in the marketplace.
In business we work very hard to take costs out of our business to stay competitive. In the case of Canada Post, with no competition, they continue to apply all cost increases to the customer as their costs continue to increase and their volume continues to decrease. That's not a winning formula in my world.
We have found that Canada Post shipping costs are dependent on the envelope, the package size and weight, and even the thickness of the envelope. With a courier, shipping costs are dependent on weight and type of packaging. Also, with a courier service, a business can negotiate based on volume. I would like to reiterate that there are lots of competitors in the courier business, and that is why in Saskatchewan it went from 423 in 2015 to 425 in 2016. Competition is a great marketing tool.
Another issue our mailing department is facing is that the various courier services require a postal code that coincides with the street address for address-finder validation. In my case, as in other businesses in our neighbourhood and around the country, our postal mail is not delivered to our building.
Instead, we have postal boxes that have the postal code set for the post office street address. For certain types of shipping, as well as receiving products, this has caused us some issues. For example, when preparing bills of lading or waybills from the Purolator courier system, it does not accept a postal box for either shipping from or to an address. It must be a street address. I did attach a copy of that.
There are other problems posed by not having a postal code to our building. As you may know, a postal code is more than just for shipping and receiving. With the nature of our business, we have a great number of vendor-suppliers who travel here from across Canada for meetings.