Australia Post is reintroducing temporary weekend deliveries beginning on Saturday to ensure parcels arrive in time for Christmas ahead of an expected surge in online shopping.
Weekend delivery service will be available in all metro capitals and select regional cities and towns, the post announced on Thursday. Weekend delivery is one of several ways Australia Post is providing extra flexibility for customers during the holidays. The postal service has also hired thousands of temporary workers, expanded delivery options such as self-service parcel lockers, and extended hours at more than 300 post office locations.
“We’re already seeing an increase in parcel volumes across our network as retailers launch Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals early. Last year we delivered almost 103 million parcels in the lead up to Christmas and we’re anticipating similar volumes again,” said Gary Starr, executive general manager parcel, post and e-commerce services, in a news release.
Australia Post has recently opened several new-age parcel-focused post offices in major cities, with features such as 24/7 self-serve options and free parcel lockers designed to make it easier to send, collect and return parcels. Earlier this week, the mail operator inaugurated a next-generation post office in Queensland. It also continues to expand locations with parcel lockers to increase convenience for customers.
The corporation is also expanding its parcel processing capabilities with new ultra-modern sortation hubs and regional distribution centers.
Australians set a new online shopping record, spending AUS$20.7 billion, equivalent to $13.4 billion, for the July-September quarter, fueled by more frequent purchases and major sales events, according to Australia’s quarterly e-commerce report last month.
Online retail spending grew 15% year over year, and 6.2% sequentially, leading to projections for intensified shopping activity across the Black Friday and Christmas periods.
Online marketplaces remained the top-performing category, followed by food and liquor. At-home entertainment and lifestyle products, such as books, saw the biggest growth of any online category.
Australian shoppers were part of a multi-country survey that showed 53% consumers expect packages to arrive within two to four days, but only one-third are very confident about the delivery date. As a result, 78% of respondents purchasing gifts for people outside of their household are planning to shop at least three to four weeks in advance. The survey, sponsored by supply chain technology platform Blue Yonder, also found that many consumers are willing to explore alternative shipping methods to reduce costs, delivery time and environmental impact.
Many respondents in the U.K. (43%) and the U.S. (40%) aren’t willing to pay any additional cost for expedited shipping. The trend is also seen across generations, with almost half of Baby Boomers (49%) expressing unwillingness to pay any additional cost, followed by Gen X (34%).
More than half (53%) of respondents are willing to use in-store pickup to receive their online purchases faster, followed by locker pickup (42%). These are also the top two alternative methods for consumers seeking free shipping.
More than 6,000 respondents participated in the survey.
Click here for more FreightWaves/PostalMag stories by Eric Kulisch.
Sign up for the biweekly PostalMag newsletter The Delivery here.
