Asendia launches SendNow as small online sellers look for alternatives after a rocky start to the year in shipping

Rising costs, confusing customs paperwork and the collapse of Sendle have left plenty of small business owners asking the same question: who can we trust to get our parcels out of the country without blowing the budget or our sanity?

Enter SendNow, a new international shipping platform launched this week by cross-border delivery specialist Asendia, aimed squarely at Australian small and micro e-commerce businesses.

The platform is designed for businesses sending up to 500 parcels a month, offering delivery to more than 200 destinations worldwide, without minimum volume commitments> That’s a big deal for small business operators who don’t ship at enterprise scale.

And yes, it’s very much a move over Australia Post moment.

What SendNow is promising small online sellers

SendNow bundles international delivery with a bunch of timesaving tools that small business owners actually care about, such as  label creation, tracking, reporting and customer support. It also plugs directly into the platforms many sellers already use, including Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, eBay and Etsy, syncing orders, labels and tracking in real time.

On the logistics side, it leans on Asendia’s global carrier network and offers multiple drop-off and collection options through PARCELPOINT, alongside HUBBED-powered drop-off locations.

Crucially for any business owner who’s wrestled with customs forms at midnight, SendNow automates customs pre-clearance, duty and tax calculations, removing a lot of the manual steps that slow international orders down.

Why now?

According to Asendia Australia managing director Lou Milicevic, the timing isn’t accidental.

“Nearly all Australian eCommerce businesses are keen to reach new international markets,” Milicevic says. “With 66 per cent of online retailers engaging in international sales, many of which are SMEs, we felt a specific solution was missing that allowed them to expand with no minimum volume.”

Milicevic says SendNow was built to remove the cost and complexity that has traditionally locked smaller sellers out of global markets.

“We’re giving ambitious Australian entrepreneurs the same professional logistics capabilities as much larger retailers.”

The launch also comes as international expansion is increasingly seen as non-negotiable for online growth, with nine in ten online business leaders viewing an overseas presence as essential to their future.

The launch is good timing for Aussie businesses. With Sendle’s collapse still fresh in the minds of many business owners, and Australia Post pricing continuing to pinch, competition in the shipping space is something small businesses have been longing for.

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