New Zealand Post is launching its YouShop service in China, adding the parcel forwarding service to its branches in the UK and the US.
Sohail Choudhry, NZ Post’s executive GM e-commerce and customers solutions, said China was the logical next step for the company, providing a service for consumers and businesses.
“New Zealand Post’s business customers are telling us that the service will be an alternate shipping method to import small quantities of product for resale or samples before buying in bulk.”
Choudhry said that in 2013 total global business to consumer e-commerce sales were $1.6 trillion, with this figure expected to grow by 75 per cent by 2020. The Asia Pacific region is showing the fastest growth at 30 per cent and is set to overtake Europe as the biggest e-commerce market.
Testing has revealed that consumers were buying similar goods from China as they were from the UK and the US, including clothing, shoes, homeware and bags, said Choudhry.
“Two things driving growth, after price, are choice and convenience,” he said.
NZ Post has also announced that it is developing an online store with Alibaba Group’s Tmall Marketplace to enable NZ businesses to sell directly to Chinese consumers.
