Online shopping has proved something of a boon for courier companies. Business editor DeneMackenzie talks to Fastway Couriers chief executive Jason Windhager about the changing industry.
Fastway Couriers started out in a small way delivering business-to-business parcels between Napier and Hastings 30 years ago.
Fastway chief executive Jason Windhager says those were the days before fax machines and mobile phones and businesses needed a reliable and fast way to get their parcels shifted between the two Hawkes Bay centres.
Fast forward to 2013, and online sales were growing at a phenomenal rate with some forecasts predicting online sales would eventually make up 20% of consumer spending.
''There is no doubting the trend for consumers to buy globally and that is here to stay. With the dollar sitting around US83c to US84c, it has a lot to do with price but consumers have made such large steps on price and choice that even if the exchange rate was to come down, I don't think there will a reduction in online shopping.''
Online retailing was becoming a major focus for some businesses and Fastway had made the decision to try and position itself as the top courier company in the online shopping market, Mr Windhager said.
Asked if he had reached that position yet, Mr Windhager said it was hard to judge but the courier company was working hard to be No 1. The key was working in with customers to ensure goods arriving from overseas were delivered quickly and unbroken. Many New Zealand-based businesses could only sell in a ''high street'' and not reach consumers in other centres. But online retailing allowed them to operate in Dunedin and sell in Kaitaia, he said.
''We are the last mile for our customers. We finalise the transaction and to offer a service that is seamless and branded is important.''
The economic landscape had also helped business. Businesses who used to order by the pallet were now ordering by the box because they did not have the cash flow available to buy in bulk, Mr Windhager said.
Fastway had 17 regional branches operating from Whangarei to Invercargill. There were 250 courier franchisees, ranging from just a few in Gisborne to nearly 80 in Auckland.
Regional franchisees operated a courier depot facility within a specified region, with the operators owning their own business.
Mr Windhager said the success of the company was on the franchisees owning their own businesses rather than being paid a piece rate for items they picked up and delivered. Fastway couriers were encouraged to grow their businesses without the threat of having an area taken away from them.
''If they get enough customers and need a second van, they make more money. That is the basis for the future and was the basis for our growth over the last 30 years.''
There were a variety of ages and experience levels within the Fastway operations but because of the physical demands of the job there was no-one who had been with the company for the full 30 years, he said.
However, the Taupo hub head had been with the company for 27 years and one of the couriers was in his early 70s.
Technology would continue to play a large part in the growth of the company, Mr Windhager said. Clients were buying increasing amounts of products from overseas. Those products had to be brought into New Zealand before being shipped around the country to their customers. The courier scanners had become portable computers but the information they provided allowed customers to see where their particular parcel was, he said.
There were plenty of challenges ahead for the industry and Fastway. While the basis of the business had not changed, picking up a parcel and delivering that parcel, the nature of the industry was offering some opportunities.
One of the intriguing facts was the amount of returns being made by online shoppers. Mr Windhager saw a business opportunity for Fastway in the returns business.
Also, with some firms still requiring signatures on deliveries, Fastway was also considering ways to ensure people received their parcels in a timely fashion if they were not home.
''We want the experiences to be as easy as they can be,'' he said.
