NZ Post trials online shopping delivery service

Monday, 7 August 2017

New Zealand Post will trial a new service to make it cheaper for online shoppers to have goods delivered.

New Zealand Post is launching a new delivery service offering shoppers two months of unlimited shipping in a trial with The Warehouse.

Shipmate will offer online shoppers in the North Island unlimited delivery of purchases for a one off $12 fee.

The service was only open to North Island online shoppers but excluded rural delivery.

The service will be trailed by The Warehouse Group starting on August 14.

The Warehouse Group includes, The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationary, Noel Leeming, and Torpedo7.

The Warehouse chief executive Pejman Okhovat said The Warehouse wanted to become New Zealand’s leading online retailer.

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NZ Post head of customer strategy Brendan Thawley said: 'While mail will always be important, the online shopping boom means parcels present a great opportunity for NZ Post to grow'.

'A shared problem for both parcel senders and receivers is that often consumers want to buy small things online but the cost of shipping is too high relative to the purchase. We're working to deliver solutions for both of these groups.'

Thawley said the trial would include up to 5000 customers.

The cost of the service would be reviewed at the end of the trial.

While the service was available only in North Island towns, Thawley said this may change if the trial was successful.

'It's a completely new model and we expect to build on this,' he said.

'We are definitely keen to expand the service to include the South Island and rural addresses.'

The service was unlikely to be offered for deliveries from Amazon when it opened in Australia.

The delivery scheme is part of NZ Post's efforts to reposition itself under chief executive David Walsh who started in March.

NZ Post has also opened new processing facilities in Christchurch and Taranaki for logistics services.

It also reported a $14 million profit in the six months to December 31 compared to a $1m loss in the second half of 2015.

The cost of sending letters and parcels went up in July as letter volumes fell by about 60 million items a year.

The Warehouse chief executive Pejman Okhovat said the service was part of a mission to become New Zealand's leading online retailer.

'Customers have been asking us for better online delivery options, and along with our two-hour delivery trial earlier this year, we're looking forward to further improving our offering with more developments to be rolled out in the coming months,' he said.