Australia Post’s struggle to return a healthy profit isn’t anything new. In fact it’s something that has been discussed quite publicly in recent times. Among its many issues, one of the biggest challenges Australia Post has faced is market changes. One of the solutions being to increase postage rates to their business customers.

Whilst not highly publicised, there are further increases coming today, 2nd March, (These are business rates rather than domestic rates, so there will be less political downside) and undoubtedly, more will follow.

Whether its mail or parcel costs many businesses will be significantly impacted by the cost increases. This reality is causing many businesses to question if they can do anything about it.

In our experience the answer is YES. The size of the savings is very much dependent on specific circumstances; however there are substantial benefits to be gained. A couple of recent examples of savings made by some of our clients are as follows:

1. High volume postage user: We identified opportunities to reduce postage costs by just over 19% – that’s not replacing mail; it’s about finding more cost effective ways to manage the cost. Developing an understanding of what the Australia Posts offer is and matching internal processes to optimise the solution can deliver attractive results.
2. Business parcel user: Working with a large online retailer delivering to residential addresses, we were able to reduce costs by an excess of 23% and, perhaps more importantly, find a much more efficient and reliable solution.

These two examples highlight that the correct solution does depend on the individual organisations profile, but the opportunities are out there – and they are big.

So it’s not all bad news. There are actions businesses can take to prepare for these changes and mitigate the impact of the postage and parcel increases. Analysis of what is being sent as well as how, where it is presented and how quickly delivery is required can be the first step in making a significant difference.

Exploring alternative solutions could save your business further time and money. Opportunities often exist within businesses to significantly reduce overhead costs; these aren’t always obvious and can make a huge difference to business performance.

“Every $1,000 you save is equivalent to $10,000 in revenue” says Robin Dunlop of Resources for Profit. “It’s worth looking into”.

Many businesses don’t have the time or resources to dedicate to finding unnecessary overhead costs hidden deep within invoice line items. It’s worth sourcing external guidance to help identify these costs, with comprehensive auditing that will allow you to better utilise funds, in turn maximising the impact on your bottom line.

For more information on how to manage Australia Posts rate increase or any other advice, please phone 1300 727 347 or send us an email.