The cost of rideshare services such as Uber have risen due to fuel costs.Credit:Shutterstock
Paul Zahra,the chief executive of the Australian Retailers Association,said the deluge of pressures placed on retailers throughout the pandemic had turned a perfect storm into a “tsunami” and higher costs would invariably be passed on to consumers.
“When you’re looking at fuel prices,it’s not just about transportation. The machinery that’s used to manufacture products or harvest fruit and vegetables - that uses fossil fuels of some sort,” he said. “It touches so many points. I’m not sure if there’s any category or factor it doesn’t affect. It goes across the board.”
Earlier this month,Australia Post set its fuel surcharge for April at a record 3.1 per cent,nearly double the previous month. Rob Hango-Zada,the co-chief executive of logistics service Shippit,said his business was seeing fuel surcharge levies of freight delivery services increase up to 2.5 times the usual level.
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Retailers have already absorbed higher costs throughout the pandemic,he indicated. “However,this is not going to be sustainable. Some retailers are already passing on costs to customers,however with fierce competition,this is proving difficult for small businesses in the short term.”
The Age andThe Sydney Morning Herald are aware of one major national retailer that has instructed regional store managers to stop driving to visit stores in their areas to cut down on excessive fuel costs.
Small businesses are also paying higher prices for their usual supplies as packaging businesses attempt to absorb as much of the raw material and shipping costs as possible.