Canada Post gives online shoppers more options for shipping their order

OTTAWA - Canada Post is a launching a new feature that gives online shoppers greater control over their parcels.

The postal service says FlexDelivery will allow customers to decide exactly which post office gets deliveries for their online orders.

That means a pair of shoes once mailed to your home while you were still at work can now be routed to an outlet near your office.

FlexDelivery arrives as Canada Post looks for ways to stay competitive with retailers who are launching an array of new shopping choices, such as parcel lockers inside their stores.

The new option could also help the postal service contain its costs. It says about a third of households have nobody home when Canada Post tries to deliver a parcel, which results in the package being further routed to the nearest post office.

Canada Post says about 6,000 post offices across the country will participate in the FlexDelivery option.