Pack & Send sales have rocketed to $20.5 million in the first fiscal quarter of FY2020/21, equating to a rise of 28 per cent on the same period last year.
Sales growth for the ecommerce logistics firm was strong across Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
While average daily shipping volume across all sales channels saw strong growth, the ecommerce shipment volumes lifted by a massive 241 per cent.
Good news for franchisees as their profits rose along with same-store sales growth.
A number of elements helped deliver strong franchisee profits including increased customer demand, significantly improved labour productivity with a proprietary Point-of-Sale technology, and a 110 per cent increase in the passive income stream.
The technology driven logistics business operates with relatively fixed costs.
Nine franchises were sold in Australia in the first quarter of 2020/21, including five territories purchased by existing multi-unit franchisees.
More franchises agreements are scheduled to be signed in the second quarter, including current franchisees buying a second outlet.
CEO and founder Michael Paul said “Ecommerce has always been on a growth trajectory, and the pandemic in 2020 has resulted in growth that was anticipated over a few years occurring in a few months.
“Our strong growth is a consequence of the strategic course we set before Covid-19, which includes over $5.2 million in technology investments. Essentially the market has accelerated to meet our existing strategy,” said Paul.
And the ecommerce growth will continue, he predicts.
“We are seeing retailers switch to online, and they have no intention of switching back. We are forecasting continued strong growth in the second quarter as we enter the peak parcel season. This will certainly be a peak like no other, and we are busy opening up our new service centres ahead of Christmas to further exploit the growing parcel demand.”
The ecommerce gains have countered the temporary loss of some parcel and freight income streams in the tourism and tradeshow industries due to coronavirus restrictions.
Paul expects the post-lockdown return of these markets to boost the company’s position further.
Pack & Send ’s customer centric focus has translated into continued investment in its store network, people, and proprietary technology solutions.
Current projects include introducing a range of new flexible B2C value-add services in 2021.
Paul said “One focus is building more technology to help us win more sales in the high growth ecommerce order fulfilment market including having our stores act as local fulfilment centres. This will give customers the option to hold stock throughout the Pack & Send network, enabling consumers to have same day delivery or pick up after placing an order on a web store.”
