The Australia Post reported on Thursday that it registered an overall yearly net profit of A$281 million or a 17 per cent rise compared to a year ago. The significant increase in its income, while its counterparts in the U.S., UK and Canada are suffering due to technology, is mainly due to Australians' growing love for online shopping.

While Americans, Britons and Canadians also love to shop online, their respective post offices have failed to tap the growing consumer preference for e-commerce and left parcel delivery ordered from online stores to private courier services.

Australia Post instead rode on the trend and opened 24/7 postal boxes which residents could access anytime to pick their parcels ordered online. The agency also offered other services to make up for the A$148 million loss it logged on its traditional snail mail service.

That loss, mitigated by the income from the online parcel delivery service, is small compared to the $5.2 billion loss reported by the U.S. Postal Service for the June quarter.

With the approach of the Christmas holiday season and anticipating more online orders by Aussies, Australian Post Chief Executive Ahmed Fahour announced the introduction of 30 super stores and the availability of over 120 locker locations by the yearend.

He said the addition of more stores and locker locations would make 80 per cent of Aussie households within 10 minutes away from any of the outlets. The new super stores and locker locations are part of the $2 billion strategy to ensure that the agency would survive the shifting consumer preference not only when it comes to their mails but also in their shopping habits.

Australian retailers, particularly those classified as bricks-and-mortar stores, not also wanting to be left behind, are also boosting their online presence since online spending in the year to July 2012 grew 30 per cent, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on the analysis by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia of debit and credit card transaction data.

The bulk of the card swiping activities were made for the purchase of leisure and entertainment products and services, as well as electronic devices and fashion goods.

RELATED STORIES