KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — Pos Malaysia Bhd will begin piloting new business models from the fourth quarter of 2025 (4Q 2025) to address the challenges faced by traditional mail services and drive future growth.
Group chief executive officer Charles Brewer said Pos Malaysia is facing declining mail volumes, reduced foot traffic at post offices, and intense competition in the parcel delivery market.
He said the company has little choice but to adapt, as traditional mail volume has fallen by 79 per cent since 2012, with the average Malaysian household now receiving only 27 letters per year compared to 173 in 2012.
“At the same time, the number of customers visiting our post offices continues to decline, while the parcel delivery market has become unsustainably crowded with more than 100 licensed operators,” he said at a recent media briefing.
According to Brewer, Pos Malaysia would run three proof of concept (POC) trials to test its transformation strategy.
He said the first initiative involves merging its mail and parcel networks into a single end-to-end delivery system, with 45 per cent already integrated and full completion targeted for 2028.
“It allows for better utilisation of resources and improves efficiency, reduces the end-to-end cost per delivery, increases capacity, and supports our environmental goals by lowering emissions,” he said.
The second trial will test alternate-day mail delivery in Sungai Siput, Perak, from November 1, 2025, to January 31, 2026, covering standard mail, non-standard mail and registered mail.
“Alternate-day delivery is already being used successfully in other countries. It aligns with changing mail volume trends, lowers costs, reduces congestion, and cuts carbon emissions,” Brewer said.
The third trial will focus on the retail network, where eight existing post office locations will be closed and replaced with 13 agent-run outlets, also known as pick-up and drop-off (Pudo) points.
The affected post offices are located in Perak (Bidor, Hutan Melintang, Menglembu), Selangor (Jalan Chamberlain, Batu 9 Cheras, Jenjarom, Kuala Selangor) and Kuala Lumpur (Salak Selatan).
For this POC, Pos Malaysia will expand the use of existing partners, such as Mail Boxes Etc (MBE), CollectCo and ATX, along with Pos Mini locations.
Brewer said the changes were unavoidable, as the company must take bold steps to ensure long-term sustainability, both for its 16,000 employees and for Malaysians who rely on postal services.
He elaborated that Pos Malaysia was also drawing on the experience of counterparts abroad, citing examples from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, as well as Royal Mail in the United Kingdom and Australia Post.
“We spoke with postal operators that have already undertaken this approach to learn what worked and what did not, so that through the POC we can apply those lessons to our own operations,” he said.
Brewer added that no retrenchments would take place during the trial phase, with excess staff to be reassigned to other roles within the organisation.
