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$2.4B e-commerce boom for Australia Post during lockdown

The Australia Post CEO has labelled the enterprise as the  ‘BusinessKeeper’ of the national economy following new research that revealed Australia Post powered an estimated $2.4 billion e-commerce boom during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis.

A Deloitte Access Economics analysis released on July 9 found that during the peak COVID-19 period from the three months to May 2020, facilitated an additional $2.4 billion in e-commerce compared to the same time last year, with communities in regional and remote Australia accounting for almost of quarter of the business.

Christine Holgate, Australia Post Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director said it’s very clear Australia Post has played a critical role in keeping the country running during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Not only have we supported business to trade online, for every three workers employed by Australia Post, another two jobs in other businesses and industries have been supported, many in small and medium businesses,” she said.

Christine has labelled Australia Post as the ‘BusinessKeeper’ of the national economy.

Paul Fletcher, Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts said the Deloitte report highlights why the Government agreed to grant temporary regulatory relief to Australia Post so it could meet the increasing parcel volumes by redeploying around 2000 posties to work in the growing part of the business delivering parcels instead of letters, which are sharply declining during the pandemic.

The analysis found the number of parcel deliveries increased by 26 million on the 2019 figures, with activity in regional Australia increasing at a faster rate than metropolitan areas.

According to findings in the analysis, food, liquor, homewares and appliances stood out as the top categories for growth in Australia Post parcel deliveries in the COVID lockdown, while variety stores and fashion retailers gained sales momentum during the three-month period.

John O’Mahony, Deloitte Access Economics partner, noted with more than 80 per cent of Australia’s e-commerce economy facilitated by Australia Post, regional Australia was increasingly reliant on the parcel delivery service, particularly as lockdowns and restrictions on physical shopping drove consumers to online retailing.

“The limited availability of alternatives for the fast and reliable delivery of parcels between regional and remote areas means that for many businesses operating outside of metropolitan cities, Australia Post’s delivery infrastructure is essential for maintaining a high-quality experience for customers residing in other regional communities,” he said.

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