The postal department has found innovative ways to stay abreast of its competitors. It has decided to sell incense sticks and conduct market surveys for companies.
Post offices in the Saurashtra and Kutch districts of the state will soon sell perfumed incense sticks over the counter. Moreover, customers can place an order and receive the product at his doorstep the next day.
"This is the novel marketing programme of the postal department. About twenty different types of high quality incense sticks will be marketed by post offices in the region," Kuruvilla Varghese, senior post master, Rajkot head post office, said. "Postmen will also offer home delivery of the products".
"We will also provide data for surveys and other corporate services. Postmen and other postal employees will help in conducting research on behalf of marketing companies for surveys on customers' choice. Companies will be given detailed classified information collected from different areas. This will all be part of the daily schedule of the postal employees," Kuruvilla said.
The postal department is also offering a 'bulk post' scheme for the last one year.
"We are getting orders from companies that have bulk dispatches, like mobile and telecom firms. In 2003-04, the Rajkot postal department got transactions of more than Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) under bulk post scheme. This is in addition to transactions worth Rs 34 lakh (Rs 3.4 million) under the speed post scheme, Kuruvilla said.
The department is also offering international money transfer service, but few people are using this facility from Saurashtra. In the last fiscal, only 34 transactions were made under this service from Rajkot postal area, an official of Rajkot head post office said.
Postal department is a wide network spread into the interiors of the country. It has more than 150,000 post and sub-post offices across the country.