- During 2014, 52 percent of all individuals in Portugal used permanent post offices. In terms of user numbers, declines were reported for all points of access to the network versus 2012.
Users of post offices and postal agencies mostly used branches located in their area of residence (89.6 percent).
"Sending / receiving registered mail" was the service most used (41.6 percent) by users of post offices or postal agencies during 2014, followed by ''Sending / receiving parcels'' and "sending correspondence (non-priority, priority, pre-paid or express)".
Average waiting time, as perceived by users of post offices and postal agencies, was around 14 and 13 minutes respectively, increasing by around 1 minute versus 2012. - The main mail services used were sending correspondence (27 percent), sending parcels (13 percent) and express mail (2 percent). The majority of correspondence and parcels sent by private individuals in 2014 were sent to other private individuals. Companies made up a significant percentage of recipients only in the case of registered mail.
Use of postal services continues to see an overall and highly significant decline.
On a scale of 1 to 10, the average level of satisfaction was reported between 7.8 and 8.3, depending on the service in question. User satisfaction fell for all services between 2012 and 2014.
''Inviolability of correspondence'' is the factor deriving the most satisfaction among customers of the various postal services, followed by ''fulfilment of advertised delivery deadlines'', with ''price'' giving the least satisfaction. As far as the parcel service is concerned "mail delivered without damage" and ''inviolability of correspondence'' are the factors providing most satisfaction. - Average satisfaction with the regularity of post delivery is reported at 8.4 on a scale of 1 (dissatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied) - below the value reported for 2012 (8.6).
- More than half of the individuals who made online purchases indicated that at least one physical delivery was made at their home or workplace by CTT (50.5 percent) or by another provider of postal services (17.3 percent). Around 20.4 percent reported making online purchases that did not entail physical delivery (tickets to shows, e-books, etc.) and 24.2 percent of individuals collected their deliveries at postal establishments.
In recent years, a trend has been seen involving the substitution of traditional means of billing by electronic billing, a phenomenon which has had a negative impact on postal traffic volume. Among respondents who reported using the Internet, around 19 percent reported using electronic billing services in 2014. - The respondents surveyed expressed satisfaction with respect to the general evolution of postal services during 2014, with a decline reported in the most extreme assessments (negative and positive extremes).
