New “ZIP” Codes for T&T- What It Means For Local E-Commerce

An article in the daily Newsday newspaper on March 29th, 2012 headlined ‘Postal code coming soon’ described a new postal code system to be introduced in Trinidad & Tobago by the end of the year. Trinis are all too familiar with the American system of ZIP Codes which has been around for as long as we can remember so adopting such a system will be all too easy and very welcome since it’s no secret we all love the American way.

Of course it remains to be seen what the new code would be called. Many may not be aware of what the acronym ‘ZIP’ stands for— which is Zone Improvement Plan  but whatever it is we’re going either like it or call it something very Trini. Regardless, this article is to assess the implications, if any, such a system would have on local e-commerce.

Public Utilities Minister Emmanuel George was quoted mentioning several advantages of the new system, specifically, “…improved mail delivery, a better ability to locate addresses which is good for e-commerce and internet shopping.”

HOW WILL POSTAL CODES AFFECT CURRENT LOCAL E-COMMERCE

This can best be answered by asking a counter-question: Does the absence of it affect local e-commerce right now? The answer is no. Far from it, there are many reasons why Trinis are deign to shop online and the lack of postal codes is not one of them.The term local e-commerce is really a misnomer as there is no local e-commerce to talk about anyway but that’s not the fault of the shopper, it’s the fault of the Trini business. I talked about this in depth in my Part 4 article in this series.

HOW WILL POSTAL CODES AFFECT FUTURE LOCAL E-COMMERCE

Aahh! Now we’re talking…it’s the real good news and precisely the reason for this article. Forget about the poor state of the local e-commerce market, it’s also a misnomer. It’s actually in a YOUNG STATE, I repeat YOUNG STATE…say it with me…YOUNG STATE. The sooner you recognize this you’ll recognize the opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

In my opinion, this new postal code system is the final piece of the puzzle, the first pieces being:

• the ability to create fully functional e-commerce websites
• the ability to pay with a local credit card
• the ability to process the payments and most recently
• the Electronic Transactions Act 2011

It will fully facilitate local e-commerce by optimizing the final step of an online transaction- delivery. It’s not to say that TT Post doesn’t have the ability to properly deliver packages right now but the main benefits lend itself to a more efficient website which I’ll explain below.

In the US, zip codes are everything in shipping. Despite our small size, such streamlining of the delivery process should improve delivery times and aid proper tracking of packages. For a website, delivery options are more easily configurable with postal codes, enabling:

• the establishing of shipping zones by postal code (by grouping them) instead of by area name
• calculating delivery costs by postal code or shipping zones upon checkout
• restricting delivery in Trinidad and Tobago to specific postal codes/zones to avoid ‘bad areas’ (it’s harsh but the truth)

At the end of the day though, we’re still at the mercy of TT Post in terms of their efficiency and effectiveness but that’s another article— yes, really it is, my next article will deal with the local delivery options via TT Post. In the meantime, local postal codes are a welcome addition to the tools for bona fide local e-commerce websites.

Read full Newsday Article | See Official info on TT Post website