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How Australia Post is cashing in on the growing daigou market

Australia Post has opened a new concept store to cater for the country’s growing market of daigous – shoppers who buy local products and sell them on to Chinese consumers.

The trial branch has opened up in Chatswood, on Sydney’s Lower North Shore, and does not sell postcards or stationery, but infant formula and vitamins that are in-demand products in China.

“If we need to pick up some key words to describe A2, I will say natural, healthy and reliable,” Chinese father Tan Jiabing said.

Australia Post has opened a new concept store to cash in on the growing daigou industry. Source: 7 News
Australia Post has opened a new concept store to cash in on the growing daigou industry. Source: 7 News

Australia Post’s Andrew Parker said the branch in Chatswood, where more than a third of residents are of Chinese descent, would not be offering standard post office services.

“Consumers can come to the shop, buy the products they want to send back to China and send them back using the trusted Australia Post network,” Mr Parker told 7 News.

Australia Post says its products have been made specifically for export, lessening pressure on retailers.

“They don’t have to go to the local Woolworths or Coles,” Mr Parker said.

One father has described Australia’s baby formula as ‘reliable’. Source: 7 News
One father has described Australia’s baby formula as ‘reliable’. Source: 7 News

Australia Post says competition is already strong – with several shops here offering products and services geared at the exports market.

Last year the postal service shipped a million packages to China, with an annual growth of about 20 per cent.

There are up to 80,000 daigous in Australia in an industry served by 1,600 gift shops and now worth about $1 billion.

Last year the postal service shipped a million packages to China, with an annual growth of about 20 per cent. Source: AAP, file
Last year the postal service shipped a million packages to China, with an annual growth of about 20 per cent. Source: AAP, file