Asher Moses
July 26, 2012
The Age
Australia Post is modernising its business for the digital age.
Australia Post is significantly undercutting Apple in both cost and delivery times for printed cards that users can create on their smartphones with custom photos and text.
The Postcards app is part of a digital transformation at the government-owned organisation that has seen parcel volumes climb by 10 per cent in the past year.
We may not be sending many letters in the post but the 10 million Australians who shop online every year have been a boon for Australia Post. More than two thirds of its parcels now originate from e-commerce transactions and last year’s Christmas season broke Australia Post records.
The Australia Post cards cost $1.99 for domestic postage and $2.99 for international postage.
Just how much online shopping we are doing depends on who you ask. According to Morgan Stanley Australians spend five per cent of the total $250 billion retail spend each year online, with this figure set to expand to 16 per cent over the next four years.
The Productivity Commission last year pegged online shopping at six per cent of total sales, including $8.4 billion domestic and $4.2 billion spent on overseas sites. NAB says online shopping reached $10.5 billion in 2011 and is growing by 29 per cent a year.
Australia Post is taking advantage of the online shopping boom using innovative methods such as digital lockers that allow people to pick up parcels at any time of day and special eBay satchels.
A card made through the Australia Post app.
It is also gearing up to launch a free “Digital MailBox” for all Australians that allows people to securely receive important email, more easily pay bills and store important documents to be accessed on any device.
The Australia Post Postcards iPhone app, downloaded by 1000 people in the past few weeks, allows users to create traditional post cards from their phone using their own photos and messages.
The cards, which cost $1.99 for domestic postage and $2.99 for international postage, arrive at Australian addresses within six days (longer for international delivery).
Apple’s Cards prints costs $4.99 a pop and if you’re sending to Australia could take up to 16 days to arrive.
Users can create cards using the app from anywhere in the world but any card sent to an Australian address is charged at the domestic rate.
“All postcards are printed in, and shipped from, our facilities in Australia,” Australia Post says.
By comparison, Apple’s Cards app for iOS devices charges $4.99 for letterpress cards including postage. Users can use the app to select from 21 different designs and upload their own photos.
However, while the cards take 5-7 business days to ship to US addresses, anywhere outside the US takes 9-16 business days, according to Apple.
The delay may inhibit the app’s main selling point: “With Cards, you can be spontaneous about sending personal notes. Snap a photo at a dinner party and send off an elegant thank-you card to the host. Make last-minute birthday wishes feel anything but last minute.”
While Apple’s cards are more expensive, the company stresses the quality rather than the price. And its options are slightly broader than Australia Post, which is, initially at least, focusing on travel post cards.
“Each card is crafted from premium cotton paper using a centuries-old printing method that presses a design and ink into the card for a unique look and texture,” Apple says.
Separately, Apple’s iPhoto software on Macs, in addition to photo books also allows people to design various types of cards, including traditional post cards, and send them to friends. There are 27 themes and three main types: letterpress cards ($3.99), folded cards ($1.79) and flat cards ($1.19). For these postage is extra and starts at $2.49.
An Australian start-up, ScribblePics, also offers postcard apps through partners such as Qantas, Contiki and Perisher.
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