Qatar Post, the national provider of postal services, continues to offer reliable, timely and secure delivery services despite the challenges brought on by COVID-19.
Over the past four months, the State of Qatar has seen a 70% drop in the arrival of international mail and goods as over 90 countries around the world suspended mail services to contain the spread of the deadly Coronavirus. Qatar Post, however, continue to provide the country with a reliable and secure delivery service, connecting people with record volumes of essential mail and items, ensuring that people’s needs are met and day-to-day operations go on as usual.
Qatar Post’s response to the call of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) for collaboration with Hamad Medical Centre (HMC) and Primary Health Care (PHCC) for delivery of vital medications to thousands of households across the country has been met with high praise and appreciation by MoPH partners and patients.
Home delivery of other essentials such as groceries from Carrefour hypermarket and e-government documents along with e-commerce deliveries on behalf of many merchants has enabled local retailers to quickly adapt their sales strategies from in-store to online, allowing many businesses to remain commercially afloat.
On average, Qatar Post has been delivering over 10,000 items per month for these commercial businesses, connecting local consumers with their purchases from a range of Qatari and international retailers from various outlets across fashion, sports, electronics, cosmetics and home accessories.
Qatar Post also proudly moved into action to offer alternative and innovative delivery service and solutions that support government and commercial partners.
The Medicine Delivery programme allows patients to order their refill medication directly from HMC and PHCC, as well as newly prescribed medication, and have them delivered directly to their homes. The service was launched within three weeks and involved the mobilisation of additional resources in record time. The speed and quality of these vital deliveries are monitored daily and managed through weekly virtual programme meetings with MoPH officials and the Qatar Post Team. Since the launch, the service has witnessed over 80,000 deliveries per month cross the country during the pandemic.
Qatar Post has extended the same delivery arrangements to cover the distribution of medical reports, medical consumables, nutritional and diabetes-related products, keeping patients away from pharmacies and health centres to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. These services have now further expanded to include service providers from the private sector such as Sidra Medicine.
Qatar Post also supported various government ministries by providing a trusted, timely and safe delivery service for important documents on behalf of Metrash2 e-Government service. This includes the delivery of driving licenses, vehicle registrations, Qatar ID and passports to citizens and expats. Qatar Post has dealt with a 30% increase in these important deliveries.
During the holy month of Ramadan, Qatar Post also supported local business Widam Foods, ensuring the safe distribution and delivery of more than 8,000 sheep to Qatari residents across the country.
Qatar Post’s own e-Commerce service connected.qa has also provided an online shopping experience for Qatar-based customers from the US, the UK and Singapore stores by offering a hassle-free international shipping service directly to their home. Connected.qa has seen a 60% increase in shipments as customers opted for alternative ways to buy their desired goods that are not available locally due to COVID-19 restrictions.
For the 90 plus countries around the world where mailing services were suspended, Qatar Post made use of its well-connected Global Priority Service, offering an alternative, courier-like service to customers who could send packages to loved ones back home in lieu of standard postal services. During this period, over 4,300 packages have been safely delivered throughout the world on Qatar Post’s Global Priority and Freight Forwarding services. These services are also made available by keeping its core retail network across Qatar open, with over 51,000 essential packages collected by customers.
Throughout these challenging times, Qatar Post has also maintained care of its own employees with provision of personal protective equipment and keeping safety procedures in place.
Qatar Post Chief Operating Officer Hamad Al Fahida said they are honoured to have the trust of customers and the Qatar community during this unpredictable time. He said that these difficult circumstances have given rise to greater opportunities for Qatar Post to show its innovation for delivery solutions.
Everyday, Al Fahida said that he is proud of their front line staff who work with courage and dedication to carry out the essential deliveries that serve the basic needs of customers so that their families can stay indoors and remain safe. He said that Qatar Post is pleased to play a vital role in safeguarding the community and will gladly continue carrying out these responsibilities.
For more information, visit qatarpost.qa.
