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This weekend is shaping to be busy for Australia Post which is forecasting a 30 per cent spike in demand for its postage services from the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
With the pandemic already boosting online sales nationally this year, Australia Post is banking on the trend to spill into the biggest weekend of the year in digital retailing.
Australia Post says more than 8.5 million households shopped online this year with the average household purchasing online almost twice as frequently as they did in 2019.
According to the Online Physical Goods Index, Australians spent more than $3.5 billion online in November last year while Australia Post data shows more than 2.5 million households purchased something during the 2019 Black Friday sales. This was 57 per cent higher than an average week.
Australia Post executive general manager community and consumer Nicole Sheffield says Australia Post is preparing for record volumes this weekend.
"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 e-commerce economy is in for a bumper weekend," she says.
"We are working extremely closely with all our customers to ensure we meet the extraordinary volume of parcels we know this weekend will generate."
Ms Sheffield says a recent survey by Australia Post revealed 58 per cent of shoppers were planning to complete their Christmas shopping in late November or early December this year.
"It is clear many people are holding out for these sales," she says.
"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."
Australia Post has boosted its operational capacity to meet the demands of the expected online shopping boom.
"We're extending the opening hours for over 500 Post Offices, bringing additional facilities online, retraining 2,700 posties including 2,000 now delivering in vans, hiring 5,000 more people to help, adding another 3,000 vehicles to our national delivery fleet, and are now chartering 18 dedicated planes to transport parcels across the country," says Ms Sheffield.
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