Yahoo Finance Australia Post's yearly $5,000 blow 'killing' mum-of-four's business
Small business owner Brittany Forrest said Australia Post lost parcels are costing her thousands each year.
An Australian small business owner has claimed she is thousands of dollars out of pocket due to Australia Post losing her parcels in the mail. She told Yahoo Finance lost packages were a “killer” for small businesses like hers who are “doing what they can to survive”.
Brittany Forrest launched Cloth Bums, a sustainable baby product business, during lockdown. The mum-of-four said her business is sending out 30 to 40 packages a day and claimed parcels had been lost by the national postal service on multiple occasions.
“It’s hugely damaging not only to us as a small business with only a handful of employees but our customers usually take it out on us and not take it out on the freight companies,” Forrest said.
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In one recent instance, the 32-year-old said it took Australia Post more than two weeks to notify her that the contents of a parcel had been lost with only the satchel and label able to be located.
She said a total of $219.90 worth of cloth nappies went missing, which she had to replace for the customer. The cost of goods, plus the cost of shipping, meant she was out of pocket nearly $500.
“This was just one incident with the yearly total adding up to thousands of dollars. Sometimes where we have been notified of truck fires and had multiple shipments within the truck,” she said.
In the last 30 days, Forrest said she is out of pocket nearly $1,300 due to Australia Post issues. In total, she estimates she is losing "$4,000 to $5,000 a year".
Forrest said Australia Post investigations into missing packages can take weeks and she was often forced to "cop the loss" rather than have a disappointed customer waiting on their order.
She noted incidents tended to happen more during busy periods when they were sending out more packages and said businesses had to "factor it into their bottom line".
“Often our packages are $200, $300, $400 and sometimes even more. When we are sending a couple of hundred dollars out of the door in stock and paying for a shipment that size, we are probably paying $25 in shipping,” she said.
“It’s an expensive exercise when you crunch the numbers and it hurts.”
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Australia Post responds
Australia Post said the majority of parcels it delivers reach their destination.
"Australia Post delivers 9.5 million parcels each week on average and the vast majority reach their destination safely and on time," a spokesperson told Yahoo Finance.
"We recognise that any parcel lost is one too many. We have apologised and are working with Ms Forrest on solutions to support her business."
Business owners are able to add insurance at an extra cost but Forrest said she had calculated this would be more expensive than covering the cost of once-off losses.
“Myself and my operations team have looked into their insurance and it’s basically us giving more money away to Australia Post. We’d be better off setting up a separate bank account,” she said.
Australia Post said it "strongly recommended" businesses who were sending out thousands of parcels each year to take out postal insurance for "a practical way to provide peace of mind".
"We are also speaking with this customer about packaging options to ensure her parcels are making the smoothest possible journey through our network," the spokesperson said.
Advice for business owners
Fast Courier CEO Vincent Maneno said there were steps small business owners could take to ensure a smooth delivery experience. That included considering insurance for valuable items to cover potential loss or damage or getting signatures upon delivery.
“During busy periods like Black Friday or Christmas, plan for potential delays and communicate these to your customers,” he said.
“Set clear order cut-off dates and advertise it in-store and online to ensure timely delivery during peak seasons.”
He also recommended businesses use real-time tracking, send customers a confirmation email or SMS with tracking details, use tamper-evident package and monitor customer feedback.
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