At least one Ottawa business is reaping the benefits of the Canada Post strike.
When OBJ spoke with Trexity’s Alok Ahuja a few weeks ago, he said he saw the impending strike by postal workers as an opportunity for his last-mile delivery service to grow and support other businesses.
Now, Ahuja said business has been booming, with three consecutive record-breaking days during one of the busiest holiday shopping weekends of the year, book-ended by Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
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“It was an incredible weekend for us across Canada, especially here in Ottawa. It was wild. Last Friday was a record day for us for revenue and for deliveries and that carried over the entire weekend. Friday was the record, then Saturday became the record, then Sunday became the record,” he told OBJ Tuesday.
Since the strike began Nov. 15, Trexity has tripled its number of merchant sign-ups, as well as increased sales 40 per cent over its predictions for the busy holiday season. Ahuja said he’s also seen four times as many inbound messages from clients in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver looking to Trexity to help them during the strike.
Outside of businesses looking to ship their goods to customers, Trexity also has seen an influx of “corporate people” wanting to send gift baskets to clients.
“So gift baskets, wine bottles, chocolate boxes, are all things that would normally go out through Canada Post or other couriers. We’re taking those all on. So it’s really interesting how we’re diversifying into not just small business, but like any local company that needs something delivered,” he said.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said Monday that the strike has negatively affected three-quarters of small businesses, with 41 per cent reporting $2,000 in costs related to lost orders, more expensive delivery alternatives, late payments, and an inability to promote their business at a crucial time of year.
Ahuja said the comments he’s heard from his clients have been overwhelmingly positive.
“People are asking our merchants, ‘How did you guys get this here when Canada Post is on strike?’ The merchants are starting to look like absolute rock stars. Our goal was to make (the merchants) look like champions and that’s what we’ve done,” Ahuja said.
He said that some merchants have created marketing campaigns to entice customers to shop up until Dec. 24, knowing that Trexity will ship their goods right up to the end of the holiday season.
According to the CFIB, the strike has cost the small and medium-sized business sector at least $765 million, or $76.6 million each business day. At this rate, CFIB said, if the strike is not immediately resolved, it will have cost the sector over $1 billion as of Wednesday.
The CFIB is calling on the federal government to introduce back-to-work legislation to salvage what is an important time of year for businesses.
“Small firms have already missed the most important sales weekend of the year, with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. If the strike isn’t settled this week, Canada Post will not be a player for the entire holiday season given the backlog it will have to sort through before taking on new business,” said Corinne Pohlmann, executive vice-president of advocacy at CFIB.
On Tuesday, the strike by more than 55,000 Canada Post workers entered its 19th day as the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping weekend came to a close.
Canada Post said Monday it was waiting for the union to respond to a framework it presented over the weekend for reaching negotiated agreements.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has said it’s reviewed the proposal. It said Canada Post has moved closer to the union’s position on some issues, but the framework “still remains far from something members could ratify.”
One of the sticking points has been a push to add weekend delivery, with the union and Canada Post disagreeing over how the rollout would work.
The federal government has been under pressure from the business community to intervene in the strike but has said that’s not in the cards.
With files from The Canadian Press
