New Zealand Post’s intuitive new approach to parcel sending

1 July 2013

New Zealand Post’s intuitive new approach to parcel sending

New Zealand Post has unveiled a new approach to parcel sending - with a focus on simplifying the range of packaging options available in its stores and from its website.

Postage-included packaging

The most noticeable difference will be a streamlined range of ‘Postage included’ packaging – that is, packaging where the cost of postage is included in the cost of the bag.

New Zealand Post outlets currently offer postage-included bags in a range of sizes with multiple colour-coded variants denoting the service (for example as a tracked parcel, or as a courier item). The end result is a large display wall or stand, with a wide range of packaging options - which some customers find confusing and time consuming to select from.
That will start changing from mid-July, as New Zealand Post begins the national rollout of its new streamlined selection of postage-included packaging – which can be used to send items weighing up to 3kg within New Zealand.

Selecting the right packaging will be as simple as picking the postage-included bag that’s the right size and heading to the counter. New Zealand Post’s counter staff will check whether the customer wishes to send their parcel by the standard parcel service, or upgrade it (by the addition of a label, and the payment of a fee) to include tracking, courier delivery or courier delivery requiring a signature from the recipient.

Packaging which is not postage-included

In terms of packaging which is NOT postage-included, customers will still have the option of wrapping parcels themselves if that’s their preference. Or, when the new range is rolled out, they can select from a streamlined range of boxes or bags which are not postage-included at any New Zealand Post store or online.

New Zealand Post spokesman Michael Tull says they’ve been trialling a similar range of packaging in their Marlborough stores since October last year - with most customers giving it “The big thumbs-up”.

“A lot of people – myself included – just find this new range of packaging options a lot more intuitive to use,” Michael Tull says.

“New Zealand Post places a lot of emphasis on ensuring we meet the needs of our customers, and making processes like selecting the right packaging more straightforward and less time-consuming is an important aspect of that.”

Timeline

The new range makes its debut on Auckland’s North Shore from 15 July, and will arrive in Northland later the same month.

In August the new range will replace existing in-store packaging products at New Zealand Post outlets in Auckland, Waikato, the Bay of Plenty and in the western half of the central North Island. The rollout should be completed across the remainder of the country in September.

The ranges that are currently available in PostShops, PostCentres and online, will still be usable after that date but will no longer be available for sale.

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