Ms. Lyons, would you like to comment?
Evidence of meeting #48 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was service.
Evidence of meeting #48 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was service.
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
9:10 a.m.
Owner, McQueen and Mo Mater
I have to concur with my counterpart. I offer same-day handling, which can be a little bit stressful at times because it means I have to get something delivered to my postal franchise office by no later than nine o'clock that night. I do strive to get it there by 5:00 p.m. so that it can make its way into the postal system that day and shave off an extra day from the delivery estimate.
For the items that I ship via Expedited Parcel, which would be 90% of my things, I think my customers would notice a delay if parcel delivery went to alternating days, because honestly one of the my strengths, again, as a Canadian eBay seller, with the toys that I offer and the selection that I offer and my target audience, is that I'm in Canada. I might not be less expensive, because I can't compete on price, but I can definitely get things to my customers faster than my American counterparts ever could dream of doing because their products have to cross a border.
For me, offering same day and then Expedited Parcel, if not Xpresspost, and having my customers able to get that merchandise within three or four days is really important. In the case of domestic Lettermail, something that goes into the mailbox, for me that would be something that ships in an oversize envelope, and I don't think that my customers would really care too much if it were alternating day delivery. I know as a consumer that wouldn't bother me too much. It's the parcels that are very time-sensitive. I know it's all paid merchandise, but if it comes by Lettermail, to me it's a different kind of mental expectation that goes into it.
October 21st, 2016 / 9:10 a.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Thank you. I certainly acknowledge that, and I think there is quite a difference between them.
Parcels don't come to me that way. I get a card and I have to go and pick them up, but 78% of Canadians are within two and a half kilometres of their postal outlet, so there is a big difference between the other 22% and that 78% in the distances they have to go.
The point is they have to go someplace to get it. If Canada Post chose to go to alternate delivery dates or every third day for letters, it probably wouldn't make that much difference to the folks. It does to businesses that still send out bills, but most bills are going by email now. On the parcel side, it certainly does make a difference, I agree. People want them as quickly as they can.
Would there be other competitive routes that you could choose besides Canada Post in those areas? If Canada Post chose to change their delivery, would you still be able to deliver your products in a timely fashion?
9:10 a.m.
Owner, McQueen and Mo Mater
I would hate to have to switch to a courier service, because of the price, and also because of the lack of convenience. If you do happen to miss that parcel when it comes to your door, it's really not fun.
I said in my testimony that I didn't do any online shopping. There was one instance this summer when I had to get something for my friend's children. I had to place an order with a large corporate entity, and they shipped via Purolator. They processed it really quickly, and it travelled to Winnipeg really quickly, and once it got to Winnipeg it sat on a truck for three days. I missed the delivery when it finally came. I had to drive to their depot, which is not that far from here, but it's far from my house. Then I stood in line and I waited behind six or seven other people, who all had the same problem. When I gave the poor gentleman at the counter a hard time about why it had sat in Winnipeg for so long, he said it was because they couldn't keep up with the orders that had come flooding in.
I think it was Purolator. I don't know; maybe it was FedEx. It was one of them, but the orders had come flooding in since the labour disruption had hit the news, and people started to avoid Canada Post.
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
Thank you.
Our final intervention will come from Ms. Shanahan. You have five minutes, please.
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much to the presenters this morning. I'm very intrigued by the insights you've given us into your businesses, and really the future of Canada Post, I think, both from a commercial customer point of view and from end-users, because you're able, through Canada Post, to ship to any area in Canada.
Mr. Leong, we heard a little from Ms. Winnicki Lyons about her experiences with tracking and so on. What about you and your customers? How does you company handle tracking the deliveries, and how important is that to your company? It's great if people get their packages within two or three days, but I would think as a company you want to know more than just if it might or might not happen.
9:15 a.m.
Chief Operating Officer, Manitobah Mukluks
We have an automated tracking system. As soon as we ship something through Canada Post, our system automatically generates a tracking system. As soon as we upload—every five minutes or every hour, or whenever we choose to upload—we already have the tracking system. We don't worry about our tracking system, because 99.8% of the time Canada Post delivers the products, and we have hardly any complaints from our customers.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
Okay, but if there is a problem, how do you handle it with Canada Post?
9:15 a.m.
Chief Operating Officer, Manitobah Mukluks
We go online and search the item through the tracking number, and then, if we need to, we'll call our own agent.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
Okay. You're using the Canada Post tracking system, and that's not an impediment for you in selling.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
What are your revenues per year? What are your gross sales?
9:15 a.m.
Chief Operating Officer, Manitobah Mukluks
They're roughly $15 million, and 30% of that is e-commerce.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
Would you consider yourself a major customer for Canada Post?
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
9:15 a.m.
Chief Operating Officer, Manitobah Mukluks
Yes, we have our local agent here, and we also deal with the local one in Vancouver.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
Okay. That certainly facilitates the order, because if something goes wrong with your deliveries, they're going to hear about it.
9:15 a.m.
Chief Operating Officer, Manitobah Mukluks
That's right, and they're very good. They're pretty much in our facility every month or every two months, both of them.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
Excellent. That's certainly what we saw when we were touring the facilities. You could see that major e-commerce retailers—just think of Amazon, or any of those major companies like Sephora, which is a beauty company—were major customers of Canada Post.
Now I'm concerned with your business. What do you call yourself, a small seller?
9:15 a.m.
Owner, McQueen and Mo Mater
We are very small, yes, in the grand scheme of things. I don't pretend to be anything but a small seller.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
How many Canadian small sellers are there like you, then, do you think? Are you part of an association? You talked about other sellers.
9:15 a.m.
Owner, McQueen and Mo Mater
Yes, through eBay. I'm one of eBay Canada's sellers. They're touchy about releasing the numbers of how many sellers they have. I'm under the impression that it's in the hundreds of thousands just within Canada. I don't know how we all rate against one another. I can't pretend to be a $15-million-per-year entity. My revenue is much, much lower.
Even though I could qualify, perhaps, for one of the lowest tiers through solutions for small business, it's easier for me to just stick with PayPal shipping, which has negotiated its own arrangement with Canada Post. That's the discount I use.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
That's how you're able to access it, by the economies of scale or the benefit of an aggregate.