Royal Mail launches tracked delivery service to Australia
Royal Mail has extended its Airsure international tracked service to Australia to help consumers to purchase more products online from British retailers. The UK postal operator said yesterday that Australia was the “international export hotspot” with the biggest growth in packet services of 19% year on year.
Non-EU exports from the UK rose by 16% (GBP 1.9bn) between March 2011 and March 2012 according to government figures, the highest since the figures were first published in 1993.
Royal Mail said this demonstrated that businesses were expanding their global reach.
To help UK retailers better meet the delivery needs of the growing number of online shoppers from Australia, Royal Mail said it has extended the Airsure service flying into four major gateways to ensure fast delivery across the country.
Airsure provides full tracking from posting to delivery, with items receiving priority handling while travelling through a secure network in the UK and abroad, Royal Mail said. This allows shoppers to track and follow the progress of the item up to the point when it’s delivered.
Robert Woods, Royal Mail’s Head of International Products, said: “With today’s tech-savvy consumers across the world looking for more affordable prices in other countries, it is essential that we support UK e-retailers to continually improve the online shopping experience for overseas customers.
“The customer need for a good, reliable, and transparent global delivery experience remains essential. Royal Mail has seen a 19% rise in packets sent from the UK to Australia year-on-year. We have responded to the demand from Australian shoppers for UK goods by extending our fully tracked international service to the country,” added Woods.
Royal Mail’s latest Delivery Matters report shows the importance of online tracking has increased year on year. In the UK, 80% of online shoppers like to receive updates at every stage of delivery.
More and more global shoppers are purchasing from overseas websites. According to the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG), 50% of Chinese online shoppers are purchasing from overseas and at least 20% of Australians, although this number could also actually be as high as 50%. In Korea, 25% of online shoppers buy from abroad, while in the US and Japan the figure is 18%.
Royal Mail highlighted one of its Airsure customers, London-based retailer Cliphair, as being able to build on popularity for its business in the UK with expansion of its sales to major countries around the globe through the international tracked delivery service.
Director at Cliphair Limited, Farhan Mehdi, said that Australia was one of the firm’s top international export destinations.
“Australian’s are not shy about buying online. With the strong Australian dollar and competitive prices online, it makes sense for them to venture outside their local providers,” said Mehdi.
“Currently we are sending over 100 packets every month to Australia. We are working hard to find ways of becoming more relevant to Australians. Royal Mail’s Airsure service has enabled us to provide reliable, fast delivery which is essential to retaining loyal customers from that part of the world. We’ve seen our product getting to customers within just four days.”
