First shopping, now even post has gone online.

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Psot box is about to go virtual

And we’re not talking email.

Australia Post announce a free Digital MailBox service to be launched this year.

The move was in response to record numbers of Australians moving their lives online.

However, physical post will still be in play, so Mr PostMan’s job is safe. For now.

The Digital MailBox will allow businesses, government and customers to communicate through a secure online portal that can be accessed 24/7  “wherever they are,” declared Australia Post Chairman, David Mortimer.

“Just as the traditional letterbox has been a vital part of people’s communications for the past 200 years, we think a personal digital mailbox for every Australian is the perfect complement to the letterbox in this online revolution”.

And with the amount of online parcels coming through their doors, an additional 30 Australia Post superstores are to be opened in response to the 10 million Aussies shopping online.

The Post Office delivered a whopping three million parcels extra during Christmas 2011.

The new superstores will have a 24-hour zone with vending machines, parcel lockers and self-service terminals, as well as a Harvey World Travel store, an American Express currency exchange outlet and a concierge to help customers.

The 24/7 zone will give customers around-the-clock access to post and collect parcels, pay for postage, purchase stamps and packaging products, pay bills and use an Australia Post ATM.

Following successful parcel locker trials in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, Oz Post are extending parcel lockers to 10 sites in total, with plans for a national rollout.

The superstore will even be kitted out with Apple Macs, iPads and digital screens to allow customers to shop or research online, arrange their parcel delivery electronically and navigate key products and services.

To help small to medium businesses take advantage of the online shopping boom, Australia Post will open a further 16 dedicated Business Hubs around Australia by the end of June, in addition to the seven that are already open.

The second superstore opens tomorrow in Melbourne, following the first opening in Brisbane late last year.

The next superstores will be in Werribee and Collins Street West, Melbourne (VIC), Cairns and Capalaba (QLD), Queanbeyan, Shellharbour and North Sydney (NSW), Launceston (TAS) and West Perth (WA).

Register for an Australia Post Digital MailBox here.