The Covid-19 pandemic as pushed postal services across the world to new heights, with notable growth of parcel volume in particular. In its latest report, 2020 Inside Australian Online Shopping Report, Australia Post has provided an overview of the key trends to emerge through 2020.
Australia Post general manager, parcel and express Services, Ben Franzi, said the recent rate of acceleration the e-commerce industry had experienced was unprecedented: “The industry is in overdrive and this shift happened almost overnight with growth for the eight weeks following the WHO’s announcement of the pandemic up 80% year on year (YOY). In April alone we saw over 200,000 new online shoppers enter the market, and a million more people overall shopping online every week when compared with the average in 2019.
“This influx drove the number of purchases in the 30 days to April 30 up 6.8% when compared with the 30 days to December 18, 2019, a traditional peak period which includes Black Friday and the pre-Christmas rush. Further, the big surprise in April this year was the Easter long weekend which overtook the 2019 Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping event as the busiest period in Australian online shopping history.”
It would appear that the pandemic hasn’t only changed Australians’ online purchase frequency, it has also affected when they’re buying and how they’re receiving their goods.
“In the past we would see a concentration of purchasing between 7pm-10pm, but in recent months this has become more evenly spread throughout the day, as more people work from home and spend less time commuting,” explained Franzi.
Alternate delivery options are also growing steadily, up 30% per cent YOY and Australia Post expects this growth to continue. Though life is beginning to return to normal, Franzi does not foresee a notable drop-off in business: “We’ve seen early signs of normalization through May, all areas of the industry are still up significantly when compared to 2019, suggesting that this new normal may be here to stay.”
A full copy of the report is available at www.auspost.com.au/einsights.