Best Courier has justified its name on the Russian express-delivery services market

For years, Best Courier has been a stable company on the Russian express-delivery services market. What, in your opinion, has enabled it to be so successful in this industry?

Best Courier has been an active market player now for over 10 years, during which it has won a reputation of a reliable partner. Indeed, our company is one of the most competent operators in this market segment. Tapping on its years of experience and its logistics team, quality control and state-of-the-art IT experts, the company now offers the highest quality of documents/cargoes delivery available in the industry. This includes specially set up hand-to-hand delivery services, availability of optimized delivery schedules and provision of all types of assistance that customers may need in planning and preparation of their cargoes for shipments. Therefore, the brief answer to your question would be that our success is guaranteed by our unique, individual approach to each customer.

What are your company’s main lines of activities and operations?

We work with companies that operate in most versatile fields. Our major activities include courier deliveries of correspondences, invoices/bills, magazines and invitations, while our customers include major telecom companies, publishing houses, printing companies and private clients.  

Most companies have to choose between outsourcing their deliveries to professional courier firms and hiring full-time couriers. What would you say are the major advantages of working with a professional courier company, such as yours?

We believe that the express courier services market has very good prospects since there will always be need for delivery of documents with original signatures or seals, prompt returns of documents, delivery of tickets, goods, invitations and flowers. Nowadays, it has become a mark of prestige if delivery of, say, for example, an invitation, is done by a uniformed courier. Besides, it is more expensive for a company to hire a full-time courier than outsourcing such services to our company. This is because when clients decide to work with us, all they need to do is to just call our telephone number, and we take care of the rest: from collection of their materials to filing detailed reports. This is convenient, fast, reliable and guarantees high quality.

How would you characterize your company’s position on the express delivery market?

Going by this year’s market data, our company is currently among the industry’s top five leaders. Undoubtedly, the ongoing crisis has caused some serious changes in the economy and companies’ operations. For instance, there are mergers and acquisitions, several companies are experiencing financial drought, and consequently, have reduced their budgets, etc. All these factors cause daily changes. However, despite these negative trends, our company’s position has, judging by the sales growth rate, continued to remain stable and dynamic. Thanks to our individual approach to each customer and careful study of his/her needs, we are able to put forward unique service packages specially tailored to maximally suit each customer’s requirements and convenience. This policy is the key factor that has enabled us to secure our company’s strong position in the industry’s performances rating.

Are there any plans to expand the geography of your activities in Russia?

Yes, certainly. Our company operates in three different directions: delivery of correspondences within the Moscow Ring Road, delivery to the Moscow Region, and finally, delivery to other Russian regions. Indeed, deliveries to the regions are our top priority. Of course, this niche is currently partially occupied by major international courier companies, but the clients always have the final decision on the choice of the courier companies to use. Therefore, our key task is to create new, convenient products at affordable prices. We have focused on this issue in response to the demands of the market. The use of the latest communication and hi-tech technologies will enable us to offer the highest level of services at competitive rates. Such approach will enable us to meet the key requirements of express delivery – speed, safety and punctuality – at an acceptable price.

In conclusion, what is your forecast regarding the volume of Russia’s express-delivery services market in 2009 and in the near future? 

This is by no means a simple question. The current economic crisis has been further aggravated by the traditionally low business activity in the summer. Put differently, our partners’ volumes of business operations are on the decline. However, most important now is the fact that it seems the crisis has hit the rock bottom; the overall market situations will now continue to improve further, provided the general economic situation does not deteriorate further. The remaining months of 2009 will give us a much clearer picture. According to analytical data, some surge in market activities is expected, starting from September and will continue to grow further. The real annual size of this market can only be objectively computed at the beginning of next year. However, the decisive months will be November and December. Speaking about our targets in 2009, I would like to note that we expect, at least, to reach our last year’s sales volume, while all our efforts are aimed at outperforming that level.