I got my first look at Australia Post package pickup lockers a few days ago – at a 7-Eleven store.
Located at the front of the business, facing the fuel pumps and the street, the lockers are noticeable. The branding achieved by Australia Post in a 7-Eleven location is extraordinary. The apparent strong partnership between these two businesses should concern newsagents. It surprises me.
The newsagency channel should have had the front running on a closer commercial relationship with Australia Post given the number of newsagencies that are Licenced Post Offices. However, for the parcel pick up model Australia Post would have sought a partner offering easy parking, discipline and the ability to deal on a network wide scale. Newsagents don’t offer any of these.
I see the link between Australia Post and 7-Eleven on this parcel pickup project as a sign of a deeper relationship between the two giant organisations, one that could ultimately impact on newsagency businesses – LPOs and others as it is the type of relationship others will notice and make their decisions on.
Newsagents unhappy with a closer Australia Post / 7-Eleven relationship need to think about what the newsagency channel could have offered Australia Post that would have been more compelling than a 7-Eleven pitch. To that I say we could offer them nothing.
We need to have a realistic view of ourselves when considering the channel. I think we are more demanding than we deserve to be. Newspapers and magazines are the only categories connecting us and even they are done differently right across the channel: to different standards, to different scale and with a different future in mind.
Our independence and local ownership which we see as an asset are what lead organisations like Australia Post to look elsewhere.
The sky is not falling.
The lights are not flickering.
But we need to take note of these changes happening around us. We need to be aware of the strategies of networks like 7-Eleven. We need our own plan for our future that we can build around our business or those we are commercially connected with.
We need to look at moves like Australia Post working with 7-Eleven and know we’re okay because we know where we are going and how we are going to get there.
I urge newsagents to read the excellent John Durie article in the deal lift-out in The Australian today. Also read the accompanying piece by Glenda Korporaal. Both articles speak to challenges we face in our businesses, challenges being faced by Australia Post too. There is an optimist underpinning the Australia Post story.
