Photo courtesy of Australia Post
Australians are expected to spend more online this weekend than ever before with Australia Post forecasting a 30 per cent increase in online purchases during Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales weekend.
Last year, Australians spent more than $3.5 billion online in November alone, with Australia Post data revealing more than 2.5 million households purchased something during the 2019 Black Friday sales – 57 per cent more than in an average week. This weekend, Australia Post is expecting shoppers to hop online in record numbers. Participation in online shopping has soared to new heights in 2020, with more than 8.5 million households shopping online during the year, and the average household purchasing online almost twice as frequently as they did in 2019. Australia Post Executive General Manager Community and Consumer, Nicole Sheffield said, Australia Post had played a key role in this year’s ecommerce revolution and is ready for higher than ever volumes from the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.
“With many retailers kicking off their sales early, and the 2020 Cyber sales encompassing more of the industry than ever before, we know the Australian eCommerce economy is in for a bumper weekend,” Ms Sheffield commented “At Australia Post, we are committed to delivering for Australia and are working extremely closely with our all our customers to ensure we meet the extraordinary volume of parcels we know this weekend will generate.”
Ms Sheffield explained that in a recent survey 58 per cent of shoppers said they would look to complete their Christmas shopping in late November or early December, so it is clear many people are holding out for these sales. Ms Sheffield said that We’re noticing as shoppers become more confident buying online and more familiar with the online shopping calendar, there is significant purchase concentration around key events. Sheffield added that Australia Post has significantly increased its operational capacity to meet the demands of the online shopping boom.
“We’re extending the opening hours for over 500 Post Offices, bringing additional facilities online, retraining 2700 posties including 2000 now delivering in vans, hiring 5000 more people to help, adding another 3000 vehicles to our national delivery fleet, and are now chartering 18 dedicated planes to transport parcels across the country,” Ms Sheffield commented.
Ms Sheffield said that extended trading hours for participating Post Offices will continue until Wednesday 23 December, to serve more customers in the lead up to Christmas. While Australia Post is also encouraging customers to use its network of free Parcel lockers – available up to 24 hours a day at more than 400 locations nationwide including train stations, Woolworths supermarkets and petrol stations – and to stay on top of their deliveries via the MyPost App