Posted on Tuesday, August 14th, 2012
Traditional retailers in the country are going to find the battle for consumers increasingly tougher with Australia Post announcing yet another partnership with an online retailer that will likely drive prices down.
Australian Post will be the official logistics partner for Tarazz.com.au which is a new international shopping service that will be based in Australia.
The postal service will be the exclusive shipping partner of a new Australia-based international shopping service called Tarazz.com.au.
”This is going to be perceived as a major kick in the guts for a retail industry already under significant pressure from overseas online retailers,” Grant Arnott, chairman of conference group Online Retailer, said.
Tarazz has an inventory list of over 2,500 items that are sourced from major US retailers such as Wal-Mart. The site is mainly targeting women who are shopping for fashion items.
The online retailer says it will increase its offerings from 2,500 to over 3 million during the course of the year and will offer prices that are anywhere from 5 to 10 per cent cheaper than rival websites from international retailers.
”The main purpose of this venture with Australia Post is to help them get operational excellence in the cross-border market,” said Tarazz founder Tom Kiing, who is also managing director of IT investment firm Bridge Capital.
Australia Post has extensive involvement in the online retail delivery segment offering flat rate delivery for local retailers with a presence on eBay.
Australia Post confirmed its partnership with Tarazz but did not disclose financial details.
The new site is likely to add further pressure to traditional Australian retailers who are already finding it difficult to battle with their online counterparts.
Domestic online retailers have cited the high cost of shipping as their main constraint to additional growth.
Tarazz operates by importing on a large scale, its model was developed in Singapore and the company was approached by Australia Post chief executive Ahmed Fahrour who wanted to replicate the model in Australia.
