Is Australia Post’s hookup with an online retailer a ‘kick in the guts’?
The Fairfax media yesterday ran a report on Australia Post teaming up with international shopping service Tarazz, saying it would be a kick in the guts for local retailers.
Tarazz reportedly offers around 250,000 items from overseas retailers including Walmart. The tie up with Australia Post is a bold move as it is likely to take business from local fashion retailers according to the report.
Several newsagents contacted me yesterday to alert me to the Australia Post move – given my disappointment that the policy makers (politicians) in Australia for the last fifteen years or so have let Australia Post creep way beyond the remit covered in the act under which it operates. Some were surprised that I’m not angry about what Australia Post is doing.
Unless I am missing something, this is a move leveraging the Australia Post delivery infrastructure. It’s what they are there for – more so than taking over the counter retail sales from small family run businesses as they do when they use their government owned corporate stores to specifically target businesses like newsagencies.
Okay, so they are facilitating an international retailer taking retail sales from other retailers and, yes, maybe politicians should have concern about that and the jobs that could be lost and businesses closed. But it’s not as direct a hit against retailers as Australia Post itself doing what it does to newsagents and other family run businesses.
Given that Australia Post is government owned, it has a higher obligation to Australians, a greater importance around social responsibility. Retailers affected could say this is not a socially responsible move. I best postal workers would disagree.
When it comes to small business, politicians on both sides don’t care. Oh, sure, they will say plenty – but they rarely do anything. They don’t see votes in actually supporting small business. I wonder if my view on the Australia Post / Tarazz tie up reflects this cynicism.
I am posting this here for others to comment. What do you think about this move by Australia Post? If you are against it, what are you going to do about it as that’s what it comes down to. Enough voters complaining about something can lead to policy change.