In Taiwan, Family Mart, the country’s second-largest convenience store chain, recently launched a new service that allows Taiwanese nationals to submit applications for extending their travel documents to enter China. With large numbers of Taiwanese visiting China in recent years, Family Mart has jumped in to take advantage of this lucrative business opportunity. Family Mart’s service at NT $499 (US$17.2) per application is cheaper and more convenient than applying directly to a travel agency which costs between NT $500 - NT $600.
There are almost 10,000 convenience stores in Taiwan, which has a population of 23 million.
It always impresses me when I visit Taipei, Bangkok, Hong Kong or Singapore, that convenience stores and self-service kiosks can be found at almost every street corner. Often operating 24 hours a day, the stores do brisk business selling a range of frozen and ready-to-eat food, medicines, chocolates, magazines and liquor. And the interesting bit is that they keep adding new services, from bill payment to photocopying & printing, or charging mobile phones.
Convenience stores developed in Japan in early 1970s, taking a lead from those in the west. Over the years, Japanese-style convenience stores have influenced stores in other Asian countries such as in Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea and China. Popular chains include 7-Eleven, Lawson and Family Mart among others. In Japan, any bill (phone, cable or tax) can be paid at a convenience store. You can also buy sushi and book airplane tickets at the same time! Some convenience, that.
Many governments in the region have relied on post offices or commercial banks to deliver some of these services, especially payments, leveraging their extensive network of branches. However, increasingly, the likes of 7-Eleven are offering even broader coverage and more extensive coverage. There is no reason that governments could not deliver their services creatively through these channels.
In fact, some post offices now rely on convenience stores to sell stamps, send couriers and collect parcels.
Actually, Taiwan’s government has been experimenting with service delivery through convenience stores for a while. Taoyuan County Government, which pioneered the services, now offers more than 60 services through the chains, including application of permits in addition to making transactions. Ministry of the Interior, the country’s biggest ministry whose responsibilities include land registration, policing, immigration and population registration, is at final stages of preparations to offer some of its services through convenience stores as well.
In Singapore, self service kiosks with multiple functions are deployed across the island - payment of bills & tax and some applications can be easily done through these terminals.
In addition to offering convenience to citizens and reducing government transaction cost, the greater use of corner stories also demonstrates the fact that governments in countries such as Taiwan, Japan, Thailand and Singapore regularly collaborate with the private sector: sharing information, increasing efficiency and productivity.
Taiwan’s government also procure large amount of coupons from convenience store chains, through open tender, to distribute to civil servants as welfare benefits, taking the public private collaboration one step further.
For countries like India, where established chains are not as pervasive as in Singapore or Taiwan, there are still possibilities for the government to leverage the small businesses at street corners. The huge success from the telecom sector and the few fruitful implementations of private-run tele centres have demonstrated that. The only challenge here is that it take the government more time to establish such service centres, rather than doing tender or bulk deals with a big chain and having the rest taken care of.
By opening mobile banking for the world’s largest social security scheme NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), it certainly looks as though the Indian government is heading in the right direction. Building blocks could be in place for large developing countries’ own convenience store technology story. All that is needed now is a new legal framework, investments and access to new skills and technology.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Debeshi Gooptu Bakshi
Quelle/Source: futureGov, 31.08.2011
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