Australia Post has opened ShopMate, an international postal-forwarding service in the US, reports Inside Retail.
The ShopMate website allows Australian shoppers to buy goods from US retailers and have them delivered to the ShopMate’s address in the US. The goods will then be forwarded to addresses in Australia. The service will give Australian shoppers access to US retailers that don’t deliver to international addresses.
Australia Post has contracted Singapore Post to operate the service, which will compete with existing forwarding services such as MyUS, ShipItTo and PriceUSA. The service costs $24.95 per parcel, plus $5.95 per 500g of weight. This means a small parcel weighing up to 500g will cost $30.90.
Australia Post general manager of parcel post Kelly Heintz said ShopMate was created to reflect the global nature of ecommerce. ‘We know that Australian shoppers want access to international brands and products that are not available locally, but importantly they also want an international delivery and payment service they can trust,’ said Heintz.
