Sendle takes on Australia Post this Christmas with flat-rate $13.45 global delivery

Sendle is taking on Australia Post this Christmas, with a new “parcel anywhere” offering that lets customers from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide send 250g parcels anywhere in the world for $13.45.

Launched earlier this week, the flat-rate offering is designed to empower Australian small businesses to ramp up their e-commerce efforts and make their mark on a global stage during the busiest retail period of the year.   

“For many small businesses, shipping is actually one of biggest pain points of selling overseas, but by offering affordable logistics we can unlock Australia as a global market,” Sendle founder and chief executive James Chin-Moody tells StartupSmart.    

“The Australian dollar is now close to $US0.70, and one positive is that we are now very competitive internationally. Now is the time for small businesses to think about how they want to expand their reach.”  

Chin-Moody says Sendle’s parcel anywhere offering is 63% cheaper than Australia Post’s parcel post rates, and also includes door-to-door delivery, meaning no fussy paperwork or trip to the post office.

Sendle is partnering with DHL e-commerce to send these parcels across the globe, and will also be offering 500g and 1kg shipping options. While these won’t come with a flat-rate fee, they will be 39% and 42% cheaper respectively than international parcel post rates, according to the founder. 

This is Sendle’s latest offering in a string of promotions designed to unseat Australia Post. Earlier this year, Sendle brought the fight to the industry incumbent by offering a guaranteed lower price for Australian small businesses sending parcels nationally. Implemented in March, Sendle says its price-beat guarantee allows customers to ship 500g to 25kg parcels across Australia for rates up to 70% cheaper than those offered by Australia Post.  

Sendle has been fighting the government-run agency on more fronts than just pricing. Last year it won a two-year legal battle with Australia Post after the government agency unsuccessfully tried to stop the startup trademarking the slogan “Post without the office”. The case was reported to have cost more than $30,000 in legal fees, but at the time Chin-Moody said it was a win for “common sense”.

Years of pushing against Australia Post has gained Sendle some headway in this monopolised market. Chin-Moody says the startup has been growing at roughly a 17-18% month-on-month rate for the last 37 months, and is now facilitating over a quarter of a billion dollars worth of e-commerce in Australia.

Levelling the playing field for small business

Chin-Moody says Sendle wants to “level the playing field” for Australian small businesses by “unlocking the power of big business logistics for those at the small end of town.”

He says helping Australian small businesses flourish comes down to offering simple, reliable and affordable postage services so business owners can get on with their day.

“We believe that simplifying and increasing reliability is the stuff that makes SMEs tick. If you’re running a small business you need to spend time building that business, not just spending time on admin,” he explains.  

“What we’re really trying to do is enable small businesses and the diverse range of e-commerce in Australia to compete on a global stage.”

StartupSmart contacted Australia Post for comment but didn’t receive a response prior to publication.

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