Mailing giant Australia Post says it is taking heed of a tide of consumer complaints following its delivery reforms by signing an agreement with courier service Shippit.
The deal is set to partner Shippit’s online service with Aus Post express and standard post, which it says can then offer customers cheaper and faster delivery.
However the new partnership is likely to do little to assuage the anger of printers and mailing houses, who are seeing customers veer away from print and mail in light of Aus Post’s strategy of raising prices and diminishing services.
The partnership comes shortly after Australia Post announced price hikes and slowed delivery rates which impinge on many businesses reliant on mail to deliver time sensitive and important documents.
Industries ranging from litigation services to real estate which have previously depended on reliable post services are now looking to faster, ‘uber’ style couriers, or simply abolishing hard-copy correspondence all together, leading to a decline in print and in mailing.
An employee working for litigation support company says the business was forced to resort to private couriers or personal delivery as it is now ‘cheaper and more reliable’ than Australia Post.
This week ProPrint reported the national credit association NCPA launched an inquiry into switching to email for communication of financial notices, also because of unreliable post delivery.
[Related: Aus Post partners with e-commerce company]
Aus Post also recently announced it will also be raising annual prices for return paid parcels up to $100 from $95, and the price of mailing some packaging products is also set to be hiked.
These price changes will be effective April 18 this year, according to Aus Post’s website.
Shippit and Aus Post’s partnership focuses on parcel delivery from online retailers, but there is no word on how the postal giant plans to speed up sluggish letter delivery.
Shippit, which caters for some 300 retailers and businesses, offers a more flexible postal service than standard Australia Post systems that allows delivery reschedules and reroutes on short notices.
Launched in February 2015, Shippit also partners with other courier services such as TNT, CouriersPlease, Mail Call Couriers and Fastway Couriers to facilitate faster parcel delivery
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