COURIER SERVICES IN THE AGE OF SUSTAINABILITY: DEVELOPMENT DIRECTIONS AND INNOVATION

Considered the major winners of the 2019 pandemic crisis, courier services are supported in this statement by relevant statistical data, namely: the turnover of the postal and courier services market in Romania increased by 19% compared to 2019 and exceeded the 2011 level by 136%, reaching 6.4 billion lei in 2020. In 2023, a turnover of 8 billion lei—representing 0.31% of Romania’s total turnover—allows us to assert that postal and courier services represent a category of activities worth considering as a business opportunity. It is among the few fields in which the number of companies has grown spectacularly in recent years, rising from 1,000 units in 2011 to 2,400 in 2019, to 3,400 in 2020, and reaching 4,626 economic agents in 2023. All of us, individuals or legal entities, have used and continue to increasingly use courier services, given the trend toward digitalization of various activities—primarily online commerce—but also due to other aspects such as customer convenience, transport cost, speed, professionalism, etc. Listed under CAEN codes 5310 and 5320, postal and courier services are perhaps the most dynamic services of recent times, an aspect we aim to present in this paper. In the current context of the global economy, courier services are undergoing a continuous transformation driven by technological advancements, the growth of e-commerce, and increasing pressure to reduce environmental impact. The purpose of this research is to highlight the way in which sustainability is becoming an essential factor of competitiveness in the courier sector, influencing both economic performance and the public perception of the companies involved.