Still talking parcel lockers. Sounds like they are preparing the...

Still talking parcel lockers. Sounds like they are preparing the public for an announcement. 10 locker units does not equal world class.

Part and parcel of the digital age Chris Griffith May 22, 2012 4:22PM

Australia Post says parcel services and partnerships with online retailers are essential to its future in the digital age. Picture: Jeff Darmanin Source: news.com.au AUSTRALIA Post is promoting parcel services and partnerships with online retailers as essential to transforming its business to fit the digital age. Head of Parcel & Express Services, Richard Umbers, told a conference at the CeBIT computer trade show in Sydney that Australia Post had had to cope with huge drops in parcel deliveries after numbers peaked in 2008. Parcel volumes had fallen by 14 per cent from 2008 while Australia Post's share of the registered text communication market had gone from 100 per cent to something less than 1 per cent in a generation. It was a case of Australia Post undergoing a huge transformation or facing irrelevance, he told the conference. Australia Post now had three strategic goals. They were to retain a stable communications business, offer a world class parcels business, and expand its range of trusted services.

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Its revamped parcels business included partnering businesses and delivery of goods bought though online shopping, a business in Australia that was growing at 13 per cent a year. The growth rate would only accelerate, Mr Umbers said. Twenty-four hour lodgment of parcels, nominating the day of delivery, and an ability to collect a parcel any time of the day or night at a secure locker, were some of the services now available. Customers could even change the delivery address of a parcel while it was in transit. Other services around parcel delivery included proof of posting, signature on delivery, online tracking and insurance. The pack and track international service with these features cost just $6 more than a traditional parcel delivery, and domestically similar services were available through its eParcel platform. Australia Post had partnered with eBay to offer co-branded flat rate sachels and boxes for the eBay trading community. Its acquisition of payments service SecurePay 18 months ago has allowed Australia Post to offer shopping CART payments capability, while its “shop in a box” gave consumers everything they needed to start their own online store, without having detailed technical knowledge. Australia Post also was seeking a closer relationship with small and medium sized business and “micro players”, rather than focusing so much on individual consumers and large enterprise. Australia Post later this year would launch its “digital mailbox” service allowing consumers to receive and pay their bills in a secure online environment.

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