Australia Post is set to pause pickups, collections and business lodgements for eCommerce retailers in Greater Melbourne Metro for five days.
The pause will take place from 12.01am Friday 1 October to 12.01am Wednesday 6 October.
This is the second time in weeks the organisation has had to pause eCommerce collections, following a similar move made at the start of September.
The pause comes as the postal service contends with increased volume as Aussies in lockdown turn to eCommerce to shop.
"With parcel volumes at Christmas levels, our network continues to be under increased pressure, and is amplified in Victoria where we continue to manage a heavily reduced workforce due to the impact of the Delta strain," Australia Post said in a statement.
"Australia Post currently has close to 200 people in Melbourne in necessary self-isolation, placing increased pressure on our network, while we also manage flight restrictions, temporary facility closures, and parcel volumes as high as our Christmas peak period.
"The temporary pause will help manage the record volumes being experienced in the network and importantly return them to a level that is safe and manageable for our people.
"The safety of our people is our highest priority, one which we will not compromise on," the organisation said.
eCommerce retail expert and National Online Retail Association founder Paul Greenberg said that while the pause may present a challenge for eTailers, it also presents an opportunity to strengthen the connection to the customer.
"Retailers will be understandably anxious about Australia Post decision to hold off collections for five days to focus on delivery back logs," he posted to LinkedIn.
"Under the circumstances, I think this strategy makes sense.
"I understand completely retailer and customer concerns, but we must surely all accept that these are extraordinary times.
"And partnerships will require deep patience and flexibility. Clearing the backlog will mean the top of the funnel will need to be throttled, albeit temporarily.
"From my (too) many years in online retail, I learned, (the hard way often), that customers are incredibly fair and reasonable around inevitable delays, as long as they are communicated with frankly and frequently.
"These interruptions to our businesses can in fact present an opportunity to deepen our relationship with customers," he said.
The upcoming pause only affects standard parcel post and eParcel service for Greater Melbourne Metro.
Express Post, Startrack Premium, Startrack Courier, Startrack Express and letters services will remain unchanged across the network.
Post Offices will remain open for all usual business including collecting carded parcels and lodgement of parcels.
Items lodged at Street Posting Boxes will also continue to be collected for processing and collections in all other States remain the same.
Deliveries will continue including on weekends and parcel processing continues.