Australian businesses and consumers have been left searching for answers after an Australia Post delivery rival ceased operations without warning.
Sydney-based Sendle sent emails to business customers late on Sunday, warning it would halt all pick-up and delivery bookings “effective immediately”.
The decision comes five months after the company merged with two US firms and 12 years after the start-up launched, promising to challenge Australia Post on parcel deliveries.
The shutdown is expected to hit small businesses the hardest as the company had ties with online providers Shopify and eBay Australia, although consumers awaiting parcels delivered by Sendle may also miss out.
Sendle’s message to customers warned the firm would no longer accept parcel delivery bookings from January 12 and existing deliveries may not reach their destinations.
“Any parcels that have already been picked up and are in transit will be delivered at the discretion of the delivery partner,” the message read.
“Any existing bookings scheduled for pick-up on 12 January or later will be cancelled.”
In a statement, the company provided little detail about the sudden shutdown or what it would mean for its clients.
“Sendle has informed its customers that it is no longer taking any future bookings,” it said.
“We are not able to provide any further comment at this time.”
Sendle was founded in 2014 as a rival to Australia Post, offering door-to-door deliveries at a lower cost than their competitors’ Parcel or Express Post services.
The company, founded by James Chin Moody, Sean Geoghegan and Craig Davis, signed deals with firms including Shopify, eBay Australia, Squarespace and WooCommerce to provide shipping solutions for small traders, and also offered carbon neutral deliveries.
In an interview with AAP, Mr Moody said the national postal system was “very ripe for disruption” and Australia Post should be forced to work with providers like Sendle to improve the delivery network.
“How does Australia Post serve the national interest?” he said.
“Is it serving it by being a competitor and trying to be a monopoly that we believe is driving up prices, or does it serve it by saying we want to become a platform for a whole ecosystem of delivery?”
In August, Sendle merged with two US firms, FirstMile and ACI Logistix, to form FAST Group serving customers in the US, Australia, Canada, India and the Philippines.
But Sydney investment firm Federation Asset Management – an investor in the merged company – froze redemptions in its fund in December after raising questions about financial statements.
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