Australia Post partners with eBay to smooth the way for online traders

Mark Freidin

11th Jul 2010

Australia Post partners with eBay to smooth the way for online traders

A partnership between Australia Post and eBay is set to further facilitate online transactions, enabling eBay sellers to organise the packaging, labelling, tracking, pick-up and delivery of goods with the click of their mouse.

The Click and Send service, an online portal through which customer can prepare both their domestic and international parcels for shipment, makes sending items sold through eBay easier.

“With 8 million registered eBay sellers in Australia, the potential for take-up of the Click and Send offering is tremendous,” said Group Manager Parcels, Australia Post, Chris Koo.

The service is expected to appeal especially to low-volume online traders who seek a more convenient and reliable way to send their goods.

“We are very pleased to offer our first online service tool which is integrated with eBay Australia” said Mr Koo.

“We welcome the integration of Click and Send on to eBay.com.au,” said Deborah Sharkey, Managing Director of eBay Australia & New Zealand Pty Ltd. “eBay looks forward to working closely with Australia Post to provide further innovation that helps ecommerce grow.”

“Online shopping projections indicate that there’s a strong market out there, and we want a slice of it. If Australia follows trends in the US and UK, where online shopping occupies a 7 to 8 per cent share of the market (compared to Australia’s 3 per cent), then there’s enormous scope for an end-to-end service like Click and Send.” said Mr Koo.

“The partnership between Australia Post and eBay is a natural fit. It represents the coming together of the largest bricks and mortar retail presence in Australia and the most popular online sales channel in Australia”.

One of the issues that prevent people engaging more with online selling is the hassle of having to get to the post office to mail the item. The new Click and Send service means that eBay sellers who register for Click and Send will be able to prepare their shipping labels and pay for their postage online with a courier pick up by Messenger Post Couriers, all without leaving their computer.

Customers can also prepare their shipping labels online through Click and Send and lodge and pay at the post office.

Click and Send launched for Australia Post’s international parcels in March 2009 and has since seen over 100,000 parcels dispatched using the service. Click and Send became available for domestic parcels on 31 May this year.

The partnership with eBay follows the announcement of Australia Post’s business renewal program, Future Ready, which includes an entire business unit dedicated to e-Services.

“We are committed to adapting our business to ensure that electronic solutions deliver tangible benefits to our customers,” Mr Koo said.

Further information and the Click and Send portal itself is accessible at auspost.com.au/clickandsend

Fast facts:

• Australia Post launched Click and Send in March 2009 to people mailing items internationally
• Since March 2009, Click and Send users have used the portal to prepare more than 105,000 international items
• There are eight million registered eBay users in Australia (Online Business Index (OBI), Survey of Australian eCommerce Business, March 2010
• According to Forrester Research, Australian online spending will increase to $32 billion in 2012 (OBI, March 2010
• 41 per cent of online traders said that improved postal/delivery services would support the growth of online entrepreneurialism in Australia (OBI, March 2010)
• Professional Traders and eTailers send an average of 72 and 54 parcels per month, respectively (OBI, March 2010)