MailPlus and LPOs

Today POAAL met with MailPlus and Australia Post to discuss how MailPlus and Licensees together can benefit from local small business opportunities.Australia Post is now a majority shareholder of MailPlus.It has been proposed that MailPlus franchisees work closer with the post office network, including LPOs, to grow the number of small businesses served by Australia Post.POAAL emphasised the following points:

• Customers must not be transferred from LPOs to corporate outlets
• Satchels must be sourced from LPOs wherever possible
• New customers must be found to the benefit of Licensees

MailPlus currently offers its customers services including PO Box mail collection, mail drop-off, and banking. POAAL proposed that MailPlus does all customer banking and bill payment at LPOs.A deeper relationship with MailPlus may help clear PO Box parcels sooner from LPOs. While some business customers have their parcels delivered direct to their premises, others receive their parcels at their PO Box.There are a number of issues that need to be addressed, including:

• how to resolve any disputes between Licensees and MailPlus franchisees
• what happens at LPOs where there are no PO Box installations

POAAL suggested that some Licensees may wish to take on a MailPlus franchise. Australia Post at this stage seems intent on blocking such entrepreneurial endeavour.POAAL has invited MailPlus to speak to Licensees at a future POAAL meeting.POAAL has proposed that a trial take place, to test how any relationship between Licensees and MailPlus work in practice, and to identify and fix any problems that may arise.Then, if the trial is successful, the programme might be extended to the rest of Australia.