Online boom fills Aussie Post sacks

TASMANIANS are embracing online shopping with gusto, adding to the parcel workload at Australia Post as the Christmas rush gets into full swing.

The island state has recorded the biggest growth in online shopping in the nation with a 25.8 per cent jump in the number of online purchases year on year.

Australia Post says Christmas 2018 is set to be its busiest yet and eight Tasmanian outlets would offer extended opening hours until December 21 — Rosny Park, Glenorchy, Hobart, Kingston, Devonport, Kings Meadows, Latrobe and Spreyton — with outlets open between 9am and 6pm weekdays and from 9am till 12.30pm on Saturdays.

Tasmanians looking to send parcels overseas to arrive before Christmas need to act fast with Monday being the deadline for economy airmail. Standard parcels need to be posted by December 12 and Express by December 17.

Australia Post’s national parcel revenues came in at $3.5 billion last financial year with volumes up 11 per cent. Letter revenues fell 5.1 per cent to $2.4 billion, with volumes down 10.9 per cent. Around Australia, 170 Australia Post outlets will keep their doors open longer as the government business enterprise moves into what it says will be its busiest festive period ever.

Australia Post general manager post office network David McNamara said extended trading hours will give customers more choice and convenience as they send and receive their Christmas gifts.

“With the online shopping boom continuing, we’re delivering record volumes and we want to make sure our customers have convenient access to our products and services to help them get ready for the big day,” Mr McNamara said.

“Last year we delivered 37 million parcels in December and we’re expecting to exceed that number this year, so it’s all hands on deck.”

Along with extended trading hours, Australia Post customers also have the option of collecting their Christmas gifts at one of 330 free 24/7 parcel lockers and can track their deliveries more easily with improvements in parcel tracking.

Cards and letters should arrive in two to six business days if posted using the regular service and one to four business days under priority postage.