Levelling the playing field for SMEs
Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell has reportedly argued that there is a need to “level the playing field” on mail costs, so SMEs can compete with bigger companies. In an article published in The Sydney Morning Herald today (13 July), the Ombudsman is quoted as saying: “”It appears that Australia Post provides volume discounts to big customers who send large amounts of parcel mail.
“The SME sector is just struggling to compete with some of the offerings being made with the big guys and the multinationals.
“I am examining options to level the playing field for small business to compete fairly with big business when it comes to sending goods within Australia.
“One option may be to establish a buying collective.”
Carnell was also quoted as saying: “With the current competition in the space it means we are encouraging SMEs to get online and grow their markets and that’s not possible if they can’t compete in the delivery space and we particularly see that in rural and regional areas.
“It would be cheaper to get something from China in terms of cost of delivery than from inside Australia. That’s a huge issue.”