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Tag: Australia Post

  • Australian Retailers Face Margin Squeeze as 59% of Shoppers Shun Full Price

    Australian Retailers Face Margin Squeeze as 59% of Shoppers Shun Full Price

    Australian retailers must overhaul operational discipline as 59 per cent of shoppers now refuse to pay full price, according to Grant Thornton Australia’s 2026 Retail Dealtracker analysis.

    Data from Australia Post’s FY26 fourth-quarter e-commerce update shows 46 per cent of consumers will switch stores for a discount, while 32 per cent report increased price sensitivity.

    The advisory firm identified five interconnected capabilities required to protect margins: customer proposition, earnings quality, operating model, technology, and organizational capability. Mounting pressure on household budgets means customer retention, repeat visits, full-price sales ratios, and customer lifetime value now carry far more commercial weight than raw top-line revenue growth.

    Protecting Margins Beyond Top-Line Sales

    Converting sales into profit requires tighter control over inventory, customer acquisition costs, returns, and shrinkage. Tam Goldin, financial advisory partner at Grant Thornton Australia, noted that many merchants need to strengthen fundamental disciplines, including clearer pricing and operating models that scale without adding unnecessary overhead.

    Shrinkage remains a critical operational drain for large physical store networks, while changing wage settings require closer management of store labor deployment. Retailers must track where value is lost across working capital rather than relying solely on headline profit and loss statements.

    Restructuring Operations and Supply Chains

    Scaling businesses frequently outgrow founder-led workflows, creating operational bottlenecks across supply chains and merchandising. Kirsten Ridgway, management consulting partner and head of retail at Grant Thornton Australia, pointed out that the largest opportunities emerge when companies simplify decision-making and align capital spending with actual customer demand.

    Supply chain models require flexible sourcing and inventory visibility to handle fluctuating lead times and freight expenses. Technology investments must resolve specific operational problems, starting with foundational systems such as point-of-sale platforms, integrated inventory tracking, and clean customer data before deploying artificial intelligence for demand forecasting and pricing.

    Across Asia-Pacific markets, rising labor costs and deal-seeking consumer behavior have forced merchants to pivot away from rapid floor-space expansion toward customer lifetime value and strict loss prevention. Retailers now face the next reporting cycle with shrinkage rates, full-price sales percentages, and inventory turns serving as the decisive operational numbers to track.

  • Australian Retailers Face Margin Squeeze as 59% of Shoppers Shun Full Price

    Australian Retailers Face Margin Squeeze as 59% of Shoppers Shun Full Price

    Australian retailers must overhaul operational discipline as 59 per cent of shoppers now refuse to pay full price, according to Grant Thornton Australia’s 2026 Retail Dealtracker analysis.

    Data from Australia Post’s FY26 fourth-quarter e-commerce update shows 46 per cent of consumers will switch stores for a discount, while 32 per cent report increased price sensitivity.

    The advisory firm identified five interconnected capabilities required to protect margins: customer proposition, earnings quality, operating model, technology, and organizational capability. Mounting pressure on household budgets means customer retention, repeat visits, full-price sales ratios, and customer lifetime value now carry far more commercial weight than raw top-line revenue growth.

    Protecting Margins Beyond Top-Line Sales

    Converting sales into profit requires tighter control over inventory, customer acquisition costs, returns, and shrinkage. Tam Goldin, financial advisory partner at Grant Thornton Australia, noted that many merchants need to strengthen fundamental disciplines, including clearer pricing and operating models that scale without adding unnecessary overhead.

    Shrinkage remains a critical operational drain for large physical store networks, while changing wage settings require closer management of store labor deployment. Retailers must track where value is lost across working capital rather than relying solely on headline profit and loss statements.

    Restructuring Operations and Supply Chains

    Scaling businesses frequently outgrow founder-led workflows, creating operational bottlenecks across supply chains and merchandising. Kirsten Ridgway, management consulting partner and head of retail at Grant Thornton Australia, pointed out that the largest opportunities emerge when companies simplify decision-making and align capital spending with actual customer demand.

    Supply chain models require flexible sourcing and inventory visibility to handle fluctuating lead times and freight expenses. Technology investments must resolve specific operational problems, starting with foundational systems such as point-of-sale platforms, integrated inventory tracking, and clean customer data before deploying artificial intelligence for demand forecasting and pricing.

    Across Asia-Pacific markets, rising labor costs and deal-seeking consumer behavior have forced merchants to pivot away from rapid floor-space expansion toward customer lifetime value and strict loss prevention. Retailers now face the next reporting cycle with shrinkage rates, full-price sales percentages, and inventory turns serving as the decisive operational numbers to track.

  • Australia Post Metro next day delivery service launches in Adelaide

    Australia Post Metro next day delivery service launches in Adelaide

    Australia Post has just expanded its next-day delivery service, Australia Post Metro, to Adelaide. This delivery service provides eligible retailers and their customers with speed and more certainty when they shop online.

    The launch of the new service is a direct response to the Adelaide community continuing to embrace the online shopping trend with consistent year-on-year eCommerce growth with online purchases 15.2% higher than in 2019 and nearly 500,000 households shopping online in the past year.

    Recent data found that 68% of online shoppers are likely to abandon their shopping cart if they feel the delivery method is too slow.

    Australia Post Metro addresses these changing consumer needs and helps retailers entice customers to finalise their online purchase.

    Gary Starr, Australia Post Executive General Manager Parcel, Post and eCommerce Services said the flexibility and reliability that next-day delivery provides customers was becoming increasingly important, as the desire for fast fulfilment continues to be a key factor in online sales.

    “We’ve been listening to our customers, and know they expect more certainty, simplicity and speed when ordering online. The Australia Post Metro service raises the bar for customers – prioritising next day delivery in metropolitan areas enabling us to respond to that demand and deliver parcels to customers’ doors sooner.

    “We already have some of the country’s largest retailers using the Australia Post Metro service covering the lifestyle, fashion, beauty and FMCG space, with more retailers coming online every month. This new service provides a more agile, flexible delivery option as we head into our busiest time of year.” Mr. Starr said.

    Jo-Ann Hicks, Director of BIG W’s Ecom and Digital business says, “BIG W is excited to offer Australia Post’s next day delivery service to our Adelaide customers, giving them the opportunity to receive their BIG W shopping quickly by ordering online. Next day delivery joins many convenient ways to shop at BIG W including Pick up and Direct to Boot services.”

    In less than a year since the launch of Australia Post Metro across Australia, more than 2.6 million parcels have been delivered and this is expected to continue growing strongly as demand for this product increases, and new retail partners come on board.

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  • Australia Post stamps out gender pay gap, launches free delivery

    Australia Post stamps out gender pay gap, launches free delivery

    Australia Post has stamped out its gender pay gap, bringing the company’s average pay difference between men and women to zero per cent.

    The reduction is an improvement on the company’s 1.4 per cent difference recorded in 2016 and is far below the national average of 16 per cent.

    Australia Post acting chief executive Christine Corbett said she was extremely pleased with the result given Australia Post is one of the largest employers in the country.

    “Over the last seven and a half years we have focused on improving the representation of women across all levels of leadership and addressing unconscious bias,” Corbett said in a statement on Tuesday.

    “Since then, we have seen a concerted effort across the board to recognise and champion our female workers.”

    In the past year, over 400 women have participated in Australia Post’s career development programs, which Corbett described as being “instrumental” in identifying and nurturing talent.

    Women now account for 37.5 per cent of all management staff at Australia Post, up from 36.4 per cent, while the number of female board members has jumped to 44.4 per cent from 33.3 per cent in 2016.

    The announcement comes only weeks before former Blackmores chief executive Christine Holgate is due to take the reins and lead Australia Post on less than half the pay of her predecessor Ahmed Fahour.

    Holgate will join the board at the end of the month and will receive an annual salary of $1.375 million, more than $4 million less than the $5.6 million Fahour took home in 2016/17.

    Her appointment will bring the number of female directors to five out of nine, including deputy chair Holly Kramer.

    Free shipping launched

    Meanwhile the distribution company has also gotten in early before Christmas trade and seemingly e-commerce giant Amazon’s launch, today announcing free shipping on eligible purchases at over 40 of Australia’s biggest online stores – including Booktopia, Myer, Target, Toys R Us, Cotton On and Showpo until January 1.

    Shoppers in metropolitan Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane can join Shipster, a new membership program powered by Australia Post, for $9.95. Members will receive free shipping whenever they spend $25 and over at participating stores, as well as free delivery of one Deliveroo order each month.

    Shipster members will have their shipping costs automatically deducted on eligible purchases at the checkout.

    “We know our customers love to shop online and this Christmas we expect more gifts to be bought online than ever before,” said Corbett.

    “And with online shopping growing from 11.5 per cent to 15 per cent in the last 12 months, we’re predicting the busiest year for online shopping we’ve ever seen at Australia Post.”

    Following the introductory period, Shipster membership will cost $6.95 per month, and continue to allow customers to receive free delivery where shipping costs less than $20.

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  • Australia Post launches services hub

    Australia Post launches services hub

    Australia Post is looking to draw a line under concerns that retailers are finding it increasingly hard to compete with the scale of global competitors, announcing a partnership with fintech company AlphaPaymentsCloud that promises to bring traders an integrated service platform.

    Incorporating everything from payments and identification to logistics, loyalty and fraud protection, Australia Post is touting its new service, called the AlphaCommerceHub, as an API solution to the myriad of different vendor contracts many retailers currently have to negotiate.

    Australia Post will instead bring on vendor partners into the system, allowing retailers to “switch” services off-and-on depending on their individual needs, while remaining PCI compliant.

    Chief digital officer at Australia Post, Andrew Walduck, told that the publicly-owned postie was looking to up its capabilities in identity verification, to drive the next wave of growth in the payments space.

    “We’re building capabilities in identity and payments as we see it as one of the critical things that will enable our economy to be able to thrive in the next wave of growth, driven by great customer experiences getting people things in the way they want,” he said.

    The platform has been designed to incorporate innovation in services, and will include both traditional payment options in conjunction with banking partners as well as mobile payment products like Apple Pay.

    Walduck said smaller retailers have been in a less advantageous position than larger players when it comes to sifting through an ever-growing number of retail services to maintain a leading customer proposition.

    “The platform provides the ability for retailers to integrate into a single place, reducing overall costs…they can move to provide a one click purchase process in a way that makes it really easy for a customer to be identified, and then control how that product is delivered.

    “It’s an absolute game changer in Australia’s fintech evolution so we’re incredibly excited about the potential this joint venture brings to both our banking partners and our customers,” Walduck said.

    Australia Post began trailing its recently launched verification of identity application earlier this month with initial discussions taking place with credit unions, mortgage brokers and government departments.

    Initial partners include Airtasker, Credit Union Australia, Travelex and the Queensland Police Service.

    Its internal research has previously estimated that the existing state of identity verification processes costs the Australian economy as much as $11 billion per year.

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  • Australia Post appoints new MD and group CEO

    Australia Post appoints new MD and group CEO

    Ex-Blackmores chief, Christina Holgate, has today been announced as the new chief of Australia Post effective from October, after a ‘global search that identified her as the outstanding candidate’ to lead the company in its transformation program.

    Holgate will be the corporation’s next managing director and group CEO, and succeeds the departing Ahmed Fahour who will step down next month after seven-and-a-half years in the role.

    Holgate joins after nine years as CEO of Blackmores and previous executive roles with Telstra, JP Morgan and Cable & Wireless.

    The Turnbull Government issued a statement welcoming the appointment of Holgate.

    Following direction by Government in February 2017, the remuneration of Australia Post’s new chief is now subject to oversight by the Remuneration Tribunal, an independent statutory authority. The government said consistent with the parameters set by the Remuneration Tribunal, the Australia Post board has agreed to a total remuneration of $1.375 million and performance pay of up to $1.375 million per annum.

    Malcolm Turnbull had previously called on Fahour to take a voluntary pay cut and was critical of the $4.4 million salary and a $1.2 million bonus Fahour was paid last year, labelling it part of a “cult of excessive executive CEO remuneration”.

    Australia Post chairman, John Stanhope, said the past seven years had seen the company “transformed into Australia’s leading parcels and e-commerce company” with critical reforms introduced to its letters service. He said Holgate had a demonstrated track-record of delivering results in large, complex organisations, both here in Australia and internationally.

    “The Board was impressed by her experience of working very successfully in a range of different industries that are highly regulated. And, on top of that, she has a proven ability to implement strategy – and successfully grow a business in Asia,” he said.

    Stanhope also said Holgate’s business philosophy was a strategic fit for the company. “She is a firm believer that businesses must perform commercially, but also serve the community. And that’s entirely consistent with our objectives as a community-based business that has both commercial objectives and community service standards to uphold.”“Her knowledge of global e-commerce will be invaluable as we pursue our Asian Strategy, which is all about offering logistics support to Australian businesses that are either selling in Asia, or sourcing their products there.”

    The Australia Post Board today also announced that its group chief customer officer, Christine Corbett, will lead the business through the CEO transition period – between Fahour’s departure on 28 July and Holgate’s arrival in October.

    Corbett joined Australia Post in 1990 and has extensive experience working in key leadership roles across retail, mail network, major change, strategy, marketing and communications.

    Holgate said she felt privileged to be appointed as CEO of such an iconic Australian corporation and she looked forward to building on the achievements of her predecessors.

    “Australia Post has proven itself to be one of the most resilient and successful postal businesses anywhere in the world.  I feel fortunate to be joining at a time when we can really strengthen Post’s leading position in the e-commerce market – both here, in Australia, and in Asia,” Holgate said.

    “I’m a passionate advocate for Australian business seizing the opportunity that’s on our doorstep in Asia and that creates opportunities for everyone – our workforce, our shareholder, the community, as well as businesses across Australia.

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  • JD.com launches Australian Mall

    JD.com launches Australian Mall

    Chinese language eCommerce gaint JD.com has launched an Australian Mall platform to convey “genuine, imported merchandise” to China.

    The Nasdaq-listed e-tailer says the brand new ‘mall’ might be a brand new channel on its JD Worldwide cross-border platform. The corporate additionally introduced cooperative agreements with Australia Submit and Treasury Wine Estates as a part of its Australia push.

    The corporate launched its Australian Mall at an occasion in Melbourne hosted by Richard Liu, founder and CEO of JD.com.

    Following the signing of China-Australia Free Commerce Settlement on June 17, the occasion additionally kicked off Genuine Australia Yr to advertise the eCommerce improvement between Chinese language and Australian enterprises.

    “Chinese language shoppers are more and more captivated with making an attempt, shopping for and utilizing merchandise from everywhere in the world, and Australian merchandise like milk and wine have lengthy been huge sellers on our platform,” stated Liu. “Now that our Australian Mall is out there, JD.com clients can additional fulfill their rising curiosity in recent Australian meals and high-quality merchandise, safe within the information they’re shopping for via China’s premier trusted supply of real merchandise.”

    The partnership with Australia Publish will make it simpler for corporations on JD Worldwide to leverage the postal service’s providers, together with package deal decide up, abroad warehousing, air and sea transportation, and small package deal junk mail from Australia to China, amongst different potential providers.

    Stated Andrew Walduck, EGM, info, digital & know-how (and CIO) of Australia Submit: “We’re additionally happy to play a number one position in connecting Chinese language shoppers with fabulous and premium Australian merchandise via JD.com.”

    The brand new Australian Mall builds on JD.com’s partnership with Austrade to advertise gross sales of Australian meals merchandise and in collaboration with Australian companions like Australia Publish and AustCham will supply a wider vary of meals together with recent milk, seafood, recent fruits and different gadgets in excessive demand amongst JD.com’s clients.

    JD.com’s Australian Mall may even function many well-known Australian manufacturers and merchandise masking numerous classes, together with healthcare, maternity, child, private care, cosmetics, sportswear and footwear.

    As a part of its Australian Mall launch, JD.com additionally introduced a brand new settlement with Treasury Wine Estates, certainly one of Australia’s premier wineries. Underneath the settlement, JD.com will start providing the corporate’s wines to its greater than 100 million lively clients.

    Because it does with its different worldwide channels on JD Worldwide, together with its lately launched on-line nation malls that provide genuine merchandise from France, South Korea and Japan, the corporate will join Australian suppliers and sellers with worldwide logistics companions, together with Australia Publish, to assist simplify cross-border transactions, thereby permitting clients in China to order and obtain the products they need in a seamless, speedy and worry-free method.

    “As a long-time associate of JD.com, we couldn’t be extra delighted to welcome Richard and his staff to Australia to additional increase their enterprise with corporations right here,” stated Phil Wohlsen GM Asia of The a2 Milk Firm.

    “As China and Australia launch a brand new period of elevated financial cooperation, I hope that extra Australians will use this chance to leverage the super assets of JD.com to faucet the large potential of Chinese language market as we now have.”

    Australian manufacturers serious about reaching JD.com’s 100 million-plus clients ought to contact JD Worldwide’s model administration group at: Worldwide@jd.com.