Taipei, April 9 (CNA) Chunghwa Post has teamed up with the Family Mart chain to launch a domestic delivery service in which packages can be dropped at a convenience store and sent by the postal service, a Family Mart executive said Tuesday.
The service, which began Tuesday, is targeted at the growing demand for delivery of small parcels driven by the rise of e-commerce, said Chen Wan-yang, who works in Family Mart's e-retail division.
It will enable online retailers to post parcels around the clock as Family Mart convenience stores operate 24 hours a day and many post offices are open six days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
There are two sizes of parcels, shaped like pouches, that senders can choose from: the smaller 16x28 centimeter pouch that costs NT$45 (US$1.46) to send and the bigger 23x32cm pouch that costs NT$57 to send, Chen said.
The parcels will be delivered to addresses in most parts of Taiwan within four days, but will take longer if sent to Hualien, Taitung or more remote areas, Chen said.
Chunghwa Post assistant manager Kuo Chun-yang said the company has seen steady growth in the number of parcels sent since 2014, with the volume of small and express parcels reaching 24 million in 2018.
The new service is expected to further increase the volume of packages Chunghwa Post handles by 15-20 percent a year, said Kuo, who noted that the company is planning to run similar services with other convenience store chains in the future.
