More than just a shop

The Post Office network as a whole has an annual social value to consumers of nearly £4 billion. It is striking that Post Office’s social value remains so high, even in the midst of an unprecedented cost of living crisis, which(due to a reduced ability to pay) is likely to have dampened respondents’ valuations considerably.

• Vulnerable consumers place a particularly high value on Post Office. Not only is usage higher among vulnerable customers, but they are also willing to pay around one and a half times the amount that nonvulnerable consumers would to prevent their nearest Post Office from moving one mile away, despite typically having lower incomes.
• With the decline of high street banks, Post Office is the mainstay of the United Kingdom’s banking infrastructure for vulnerable and less well-off individuals. In fact, those in lower social grades (C2DE) are willing to pay three times the amount that those in higher grades (ABC1) are willing to pay for these services.