Australian company’s technology offering drives international operator’s purchase
Global express freight and logistics firm Aramex has strengthened its position in Australia with the purchase of Mail Call Couriers.
Sydney-headquartered Mail Call has a dedicated truck division and a fleet that spans push bikes to 1-to 6-tonne rigids including flat tops, tautliners and pantecs.
But Dubai-based Aramex nominates IT as a particular attraction, noting its “technology-driven delivery capabilities in Australia”.
It highlights the firm’s “innovative e-commerce solutions in the Australian logistics market” including its count-down technology and three-hour and evening e-commerce delivery offerings as drivers for the move.
“Mail Call Couriers is an excellent strategic fit for Aramex, with suitable, scalable synergies with Aramex’s own global infrastructure, enabling us to play a key role in providing important delivery solutions to our customers in metropolitan markets in Australia,” Aramex CEO Hussein Hachem states.
“We will be taking Mail Call Courier’s specialised ‘WantItNow’ technology and applying it to our other ecommerce markets across the globe. This deal also offers some exciting opportunities to further develop and grow our global e-commerce proposition across the Asia Pacific region.
“We intend to offer Shop and Ship to our Australian customers, enabling them to shop from the US, Europe and Asia Pacific regions.
“We will be looking to make a significant contribution to the development of Australia’s e-commerce sector, drive innovation in the industry and help open up its markets to increased cross-border e-commerce.”
Australian consumers are purchasing an increasing number of goods and products from overseas through e-commerce, with a recent study showing that only 53 per cent of online consumers buy domestically from Australian retailers.
The Australian e-commerce market grew from $30 billion in 2011 to over $37 billion in 2013, with Australian consumers increasingly sourcing goods and products from the Asia Pacific region.
Australia is now the fourth largest e-commerce market in the Asia-Pacific region, providing significant opportunities for Aramex to expand its e-commerce proposition across the region to take advantage of the increasing demand from Australian consumers for online shopping delivery solutions.
“We are very proud of the business we founded and have built up over 32 years,” Mail Call joint managing director Emma Cronin says.
“The investment we have made in the company through our technology-driven solutions and our premium service proposition, particularly in the e-commerce space in recent years, has resulted in significant competitive differentiation for our business and brand.”