Embracing Change

Author:
Andrew Karzons
Business Hubs
Australia Post

Online technologies have revolutionised the way Australians communicate, transact and shop.

We have seen Australian text message volumes soar from zero to 36 billion in the last 20 years, while email usage has grown from less than one billion in 1997 to 400 billion each year. More than half of Australians over the age of 14 – almost 10 million people – now have both a personal computer anda smartphone, and mobile commerce continues to be on the rise.

As consumers show their overwhelming preference for immediate, digital access to information and products, these major shifts in consumer behaviour are forcing Australian businesses to adapt. For most companies, this means ‘going digital’ to reduce costs. Others have had to completely reshape their approach to engaging, servicing and selling to consumers.

I want to begin by challenging your perception of Australia Post, and giving you an insight into how we have redefined our business model, strategies and service delivery to capitalise on the opportunities afforded by new technologies.

What comes to mind when you first think of Australia Post? The postie who delivers your mail, the red street posting box on your street, or your local post office?

The fact is, we have been around for a long time – 204 years. We are where you are – delivering to more than 11.2 million households and businesses nationwide. And we are very proud of the reputation we have developed as Australia’s second-most trusted and recognised brand.

The community – who owns our business – still largely sees us as a letter delivery business. This is what we have done for the last 200 years, even as communications technologies have evolved. Think of the telegraph, the telephone, the fax machine, and email. We have adapted to these changes in technology but we haven’t lost sight of our core purpose to connect Australians; an unchanging hallmark of our brand.

As you can imagine, mail volumes are in decline all over the world, creating significant challenges for postal organisations. And this impact is also being felt across our retail network, with less customers walking into our post offices. But it’s not all bad news for Australia Post...

Digital disruption has also created vast growth opportunities for us, the most obvious being in eCommerce. Did you know that more than 70 per cent of Australia Post’s parcel volumes are generated by an online sale? It’s a pretty powerful statistic.

So while the rise of the digital economy has been challenging for our letters business, it is also opening an Aladdin’s cave of growth opportunities. As we manage this two-speed portfolio, we are looking at core markets in completely new ways.

One of our fundamental strategies is to build a sustainable communications business, physically and digitally. A key platform we have introduced is the Australia Post Digital Mailbox – a free, online communications service that enables Australian consumers to connect with businesses in a secure, spam-free environment.

The Australia Post Digital Mailbox gives consumers convenient access to receive bills and other documents, pay bills and store important information on any device, anywhere, any time. It is the physical world equivalent of an all-in-one letterbox, filing cabinet, corkboard, and bank account.

We’re also investing heavily in the network capacity and infrastructure of our parcels network to handle increased volumes generated by online shopping and ensure we provide Australian e-tailers with a fast and reliable way of getting their product to their customers. And we are providing more convenient delivery options for consumers to collect parcels through our secure, 24-hour access Parcel Lockers and Parcel Collect delivery service.

These initiatives are just the tip of the iceberg in what is a very deliberate and strategic push to capitalise on our most immediate growth prospect in the digital economy.

We know that the radical transformation of our business is challenging the way the community views us. But we also know that being responsive to the market and making these changes now will ensure Australia Post continues to fulfil our original purpose of providing a trusted and reliable way for Australians to connect.

All businesses share the same opportunity for growth.

The world is changing rapidly, and you need to evolve to stay in front.

Because if you don’t embrace change, and evolve to align your products and services to your customers’ needs, your competitors will.

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