Post Office woes affect e-commerce retailers

Last year’s prolonged postal strike negatively affected 63% of online sellers. Hardest hit were the small business owners who found it difficult to compete with larger retailers. They are concerned that the ongoing uncertainty of reliable, affordable express delivery will spell disaster for their online businesses. These are findings of the recently launched bidorbuy shipping survey amongst online sellers which noted that even though most sellers also offered a courier service as one of their shipping methods, 55% of buyers selected to receive their purchases via Post Office, counter-tocounter, as this is the cheapest option. “For many buyers an additional R50 or more for a courier delivery is simply too much. Fearing that they would not receive their parcels and unwilling to pay more for a courier, some buyers opted not to buy at all when Post Office workers went on strike,” said bidorbuy CEO Jaco Jonker. The sellers estimate their losses at between 20% and 70% and expressed concern that the post office strike had discouraged would-be buyers from e-commerce altogether. According to Jonker, many online sellers believe that the establishment of an affordable, reliable and comprehensive delivery network is a matter of national importance.