Savings
This just in from the USPS…price increase on the horizon
Release No. 10-064
Postal Service Proposes Price Changes
WASHINGTON —The U.S. Postal Service Governors recommended increasing the price of a First-Class stamp 2 cents to 46 cents and authorized the production of a pane of four evergreen tree branches as the newest image for Forever Stamps. The price of a postcard would increase 2 cents to 30 cents.
The Postal Regulatory Commission must approve the recommended price changes. The increases would not go into effect until January 2, 2011. It would be the first stamp price increase in almost two years.
Holiday Evergreen Forever Stamps will be available to the public in October at the current rate of 44 cents. Once purchased, the stamps are valid literally forever – despite any future price changes. No additional postage will ever be needed.
Faced with plummeting mail volume traced to the recession and increased use of the Internet, the Postal Service is projecting a deficit of nearly $7 billion for the next fiscal year. Despite eliminating 1 million work hours and reducing expenses by more than $1 billion every year since 2001, a budget gap remains.
The proposed price changes, if approved, will raise about $2.3 billion for the first nine months of 2011. Postmaster General John E. Potter said he does not want customers to bear the burden of dramatic price increases. Instead, Potter announced in March that pricing would be one in a series of solutions the Postal Service is pursuing to become financially sound.
“There is no one single solution to the dire financial situation that the Postal Service faces,” Potter said. “These proposed rate adjustments are moderate and part of a fair and balanced approach to insuring mail service for all Americans well into the future.”
Other actions outlined in March included changes to delivery frequency, restructuring prepayments of retiree health benefits, creating a more flexible workforce and expanding access to products and services to places more convenient to customers.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
Complete details of today’s filing can be found on usps.com. No prices will change before 2011.
USPS summer sale, look for your letter!!
Release No. 09-020 Summer Mail Sale Returns
Customer Loyalty to Be Rewarded Again in 2010
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Postal Service did something for the first time last year, and it was so successful, they’re planning to do it again: launch a summer sale.
The 2010 Summer Sale is scheduled to run July 1 through Sept. 30 and will provide a 30 percent rebate to eligible mailers on Standard Mail letters and flats volume above a predetermined threshold. The threshold will be five percent over each participating mailer’s volume for the same period in 2009. Invitations to participate in the sale will be sent to customers in early March.
“The 2010 Summer Sale is our way of rewarding our most loyal customers and demonstrates that we value their business,†said Robert F. Bernstock, president, Mailing and Shipping Services. “We expect the 2010 Summer Sale to provide as much excitement about direct mail as the sale did last year and to generate between 300 million and 1 billion new mailpieces.â€
Nearly half the 960 customers enrolled in the 2009 Summer Sale increased their mailing volumes. This resulted in approximately 1 billion incremental pieces during the sale period, producing a net revenue contribution of $24 million.
“Direct mail works, and our customers know that,†said Bernstock. “That’s why we will continue to invest in programs that promote the health of our customers’ businesses as well as our own. We very much appreciate our customers’ business, and we will compete aggressively for their advertising and promotion dollars in this highly competitive marketplace.â€
To be eligible to participate in the 2010 Summer Sale, a company must have mailed 350,000 or more Standard Mail letters and flats between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2009. Approximately 3,525 customers are expected to be eligible to participate in the sale, representing 67 percent of the Postal Service’s Standard Mail volume.
The 2010 Summer Sale is a component of a broader pricing strategy that creates incentives to grow and retain volume. It was one of many solutions discussed this week at a Washington, D.C.-stakeholder event in which Postmaster General and CEO John E. Potter addressed hundreds of customers, business partners, employees and the media during a presentation: Envisioning America’s Future Postal Service. At the event, Potter outlined an aggressive plan of cost cutting, increased productivity, and an array of legislative and regulatory changes necessary to maintain a viable Postal Service.
The 2010 Standard Mail Summer Sale is subject to approval by the Postal Regulatory
Target Says It’s Poised to Raise Second-Half Marketing Spending
CFO Says First-Half Savings Will Be Rolled Into Pre-Holiday Efforts
By Natalie Zmuda
Published: August 18, 2009
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Target plans to come out swinging in the second half.
Executives today said marketing spending, as a percent of sales, would be up compared with a year ago as the retailer looks ahead to the all-important holiday period. Executives are still feeling cautious about whether consumers will be spending in the second half, but as Target and other retailers begin lapping weaker sales results from last fall, same-store sales are likely to improve.
Douglas Scovanner, Target’s chief financial officer, said that the third quarter, leading into the holidays, is typically a seasonal peak in Target’s marketing and advertising efforts. This year, he said, the retailer has “elected to exaggerate that trend.”
Money to spend
“We expect to spend more as a percent of sales in Q3 and Q4 this year than we did last year,” Mr. Scovanner said during an earnings call. “For the year, our marketing plan is right on. But we have saved some money here in the front half for the expressed purpose of being able to invest it in the back half.”
In the second half of last year, Target spent $451 million on measured media, according to TNS Media Intelligence. In the first quarter of this year, the retailer’s ad spending was down 3% compared with the same period a year ago.
The move comes as execs say the retailer is finally gaining traction in its fight to convince consumers that it’s just as cheap as rival Walmart. Part of that strategy has included the introduction of a “low-price promise.” In March, Target began testing the program in Denver and Orlando, matching competitors’ prices on identical items in local markets. Target took the program nationwide July 12 and has promoted the effort in its circulars and in-store signage.
“We have been confident our prices are right, and we’re seeing our prices are right, because there are very few adjustments being made,” said Gregg Steinhafel, president-CEO, of the low-price program. “It might be one per store every couple of days. So it’s relatively modest. But we think this will be a terrific credibility builder and marketing umbrella to reinforce that we have strong values both every day and on sale.”
Same-store sales down
Same-store sales during the second period continued to lag, however, down 6%. Overall sales fell 3% to $14.6 billion.
When asked directly by an analyst why Target’s sales performance hasn’t been on par with fellow discounters such as Walmart and T.J. Maxx, Mr. Steinhafel said that it was due to consumer perception that Target’s value proposition is not as strong as those rivals. But, he added, the retailer’s research shows that its advertising and in-store signage is starting to “slightly” shift those perceptions.
“We’re starting to see slight basis points improvement in our price perception vis-a-vis where we were in prior periods,” he said. “So, we believe that we’re on the right track. We have made the right adjustments. [We] believe that over time we’ll continue to narrow that perception gap.”
In the second half, Target plans to focus on its pharmacy and grocery areas, both areas that have been outperforming the more discretionary home and apparel categories. A campaign to promote the pharmacy business, including Target’s first TV spot to highlight the category, is planned for the second half. The retailer also plans to sharpen its focus on Halloween, which falls on a Saturday this year. Plans to promote party favors and accessories under $3 are in the works.
Postal Officials Ponder Emergency Rate Increases
From the Dead Tree EditionThursday, July 23, 2009
Postal officials are spreading the word that they may seek emergency rate increases next year.
Various scenarios have been bandied about, including one that would raise the price of the 44-cent First Class stamp to 50 cents and other rates by similar amounts. But after several meetings with postal officials, the Direct Marketing Association is telling some members that the Postal Service is more likely to seek an “exigent increase” of only 2% to 3%, including only one cent for the First Class stamp, to help shrink its multi-billion-dollar losses.
Annual increases in most postage rates are generally capped by changes in inflation. Postal officials are realizing that deflation, especially the drop in energy prices since last summer, will probably mean no such rate increases next year, according to accounts coming out of meetings with postal officials. As Dead Tree Edition pointed out recently, USPS will not be able to institute normal rate increases in May 2011 unless the Consumer Price Index rises at an annualized rate of nearly 5% for the rest of this year.
That’s why postal officials are pondering an unprecedented “exigency-based” rate adjustment, which postal regulations allow “only when justified by exceptional or extraordinary circumstances.” Postal Regulatory Commission rules would also require USPS to discuss the circumstances leading to the proposed increases and “whether the circumstances were foreseeable or could have been avoided by reasonable prior action.”
The PRC would hold a public hearing on an exigent rate request and by law would have 90 days to decide whether “such adjustment is reasonable and equitable and necessary to enable the Postal Service, under best practices of honest, efficient, and economical management, to maintain” appropriate service levels.
The Postal Service, which is supposed to break even, is projecting a loss of about $6 billion this fiscal year. To close that gap, which USPS says will grow unless it takes drastic action, postal officials are also discussing plans with mailer groups and postal unions to transition to five-day delivery in the fiscal year that starts in October 2010. That would require Congressional approval.
The closing of thousands of post offices is a possibility, the consolidation of processing and distribution centers has recently accelerated, and USPS continues to shrink its workforce — all in response to declining mail volume that is causing the budget shortfall.
The meetings have also been an attempt by postal officials to shore up union and customer support for legislation that would reduce USPS’ unusually high pre-payments for retiree health care. The Congressional Budget Office estimates H.R. 22 would save USPS about $2.5 billion annually for the next three years.
Few Bright Spots In Media Sales Forecast: Magna
From DIRECT: Jul 14, 2009 1:23 AM
Media supplier advertising revenue will sink to $161.4 billion in 2009, according to media services firm Magna. That figure represents a 14.5% drop from 2008’s level. And there isn’t much hope for recovery during the next few years: Magna anticipates the compounded annual ad revenue growth rate between 2009 and 2014 to be only 0.9%.
At least that represents growth. Radio ad revenue has dropped of late, dipping to $14 billion in 2009. And the next five year’s won’t be fun, either, with radio ad revenue slipping by 0.8% a year.
And at $15.7 billion, magazine spending has plummeted, and there isn’t much hope for turnaround. Its declines will continue through 2014, on a compounded annual basis of 3.3% every year.
Move from slick paper to pulp, and the future looks bleaker. Total ad sales for newspapers – including online revenue – will amount to $28.5 billion, and that number is going to drop by 3.7% annually through 2014.
What good news there is, is tepid. For instance, total television consumption is set to rise, as population increases and viewing will outstrip embracement of digital video recorders. Total television spending, which stands at an estimated $47.7 billion for 2009, will rise by 3.2% during the next five years.
And while the rate of broadband computer penetration is slowing, it is still rising and should it 70% by 2014. At that time, most computer access will be broadband-based, Magna predicted.
Where is growth? No surprise there: Direct online media expenditures will amount to $13.9 billion in 2009, and will increase between this year and 2014 by 10.2% on a compounded annual basis.
Similarly, total online spend, which stands at $23 billion for 2009, will jump by 8.4% compounded annually through 2014.
The biggest surprise may be in Magna’s direct mail predictions. At $19.2 billion, supplier revenue is down 11.2% for the year. But – whether due to postage and printing increases, or a swing back of the pendulum as marketers re-embrace the mail – between now and 2014 it is seen as growing at 2% annually.
Can This Life Ring Save the Postal Service?
Editors note: I want to say I am in favor of the 5 day a week delivery. We absolutely still need an efficient postal service and since part of the operating deficit is caused by the decline in mail volumes, it follows suit to reduce the amount of deliveries, in this case, the number of days that delivery occurs. There was a time when the postal service delivered mail twice a day, which was discontinued in 1950 and the world did not come to an end! Indeed, I would say this is a natural evolution and we will adapt, perhaps even finding new opportunities!
By Joe Davidson of the Federal Diary
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
A House committee has thrown the U.S. Postal Service a lifeline, but it won’t be substantial enough to allow the agency to fully escape the financial quicksand pulling it under.
The Oversight and Government Reform Committee advanced legislation Friday that would allow the USPS to pay for the health benefits of current retirees out of its Retiree Health Benefit Fund instead of from its operating budget. That would save about $2 billion a year.
That figure sounds good until you realize that the Postal Service — which is funded by customers, not tax dollars — lost that amount in just the second quarter and expects to lose $6 billion this fiscal year. Changing the funding source of retiree benefits will help, but it won’t stop the recession from sucking revenue from the agency.
Postmaster General John E. Potter says that while he is grateful for the relief the bill would provide, “it’s quite simply not enough.”
The recession has cut deeply into mail volume, damaging the financial stability of the Postal Service. Officials there say a more drastic remedy is needed than what the retiree funding bill provides. Cutting delivery from six days a week to five is the fix they have in mind.
Changing the way the agency funds retiree health benefits, however, does allow officials the ability to continue to fight for the bigger change they insist is necessary.
“Without this legislation, the Postal Service will reach its mandated debt ceiling and could very well have to — inconceivably — end operations,” Bill Krejci, the National League of Postmasters’ legislative co-chairman, said in a message to the organization’s members. The measure, H.R. 22, “would help provide relief for three years, at which time the economy hopefully will be on road to recovery along with the mailing industry. Keep in mind, H.R. 22 alone will not save the Postal Service, but it does provide some ‘breathing room’ and in effect could also be considered a jobs bill as well.”
The current retiree funding mechanism eats up about 10 percent of USPS operating revenue and has become prohibitively expensive, according to Potter. “The Postal Service is the only public or private entity required to prepay health benefit premiums at these extremely high levels,” he told Congress in March.
In fiscal 2007, the first year of the current retiree funding structure, the Postal Service delivered more than 212 billion pieces of mail, and its operating revenue was at its highest point ever: $75 billion, Potter said.
This year, the men and women who haul the bags, push the carts and drive the trucks will deliver only 180 billion pieces. That 15 percent drop in volume resulted in USPS losing $12 billion in income since 2007, William Galligan, a USPS senior vice president, told the committee in May. Yet, while the number of pieces of mail has plunged, the number of addresses served by postal workers has grown by about 2 million.
“In virtually any other industry, this type of income gap could be addressed through price increases, offering new product lines, strict inventory and production controls or changes in service availability,” Galligan said. “For the Postal Service, with a legal requirement to maintain six-day mail delivery, with significant limits on our authority to develop new products, and with price caps that apply to 90 percent of our products, these are not options that are available to us.”
Five-day delivery also is not an option, at least not for the moment. But there is greater willingness in Congress to consider a cut in service that a few months ago was unthinkable for many members.
The agency’s worsening financial picture and polling data indicating that the public can accept five-day delivery “have created a situation where people are more open-minded about moving from six- to five-day delivery,” Potter said in an interview yesterday. A Rasmussen poll in February indicated that 69 percent of Americans would rather cut a delivery day than pay more in postage. A Gallup poll last month found a similar result — 66 percent of those polled favor cutting a delivery day to save the Postal Service money, while 33 percent oppose it.
But while the public largely has no problem with that option and members of Congress are more willing to consider it, the postal unions are determined to fight it.
“NALC will fight any attempt by the Postal Service to convince Congress to make this radical change,” the National Association of Letter Carriers said in a statement. “NALC will proceed professionally and vigorously to oppose the elimination of six-day delivery on its merits.”
But there may be no other choice.
Contact Joe Davidson at federaldiary@washpost.com.
Feeling the Squeeze
By DAVE GATHMAN dgathman@scn1.com from The St Charles Sun
CAROL STREAM — It’s hard to sound hip and cutting-edge when your two biggest products go by the nicknames “snail mail” and “junk mail.”
Some things you never knew about the U.S. Postal Service:
• Share of all mail in the world handled by the United States: 46 percent
• Percentage of the Postal Service’s budget that comes from tax dollars: zero.
• The smallest American post office: is in Ochopee, Fla. It measures 8 feet 4 inches wide by 7 feet 3 inches deep.
• Bring your passport to apply for your passport: The post office in Point Roberts, Wash., can’t be reached by car or on foot without going through part of Canada.
• If it were a private company, the Postal Service would rank 26th in annual sales on the Fortune 500. If it were broken up into three private businesses based on the kind of mail carried, the First Class Mail Co. would rank 61st in income, the Advertising Mail Corp. would rank 119th and Shipping Services Inc. would rank 310th.
• A rural route delivery car is a “post office on wheels,” able to sell stamps and receive incoming mail as he or she drives along.
• You can recycle used cell phones, PDAs and ink cartridges using mail-back envelopes available at local post offices.
• USPS has the world’s largest civilian fleet of vehicles and the nation’s largest network of retail outlets.
Source: U.S. Postal Service press releases and www.usps.com.
Americans receive more and more of their bills online and even pay them that way — instantly, and without a 44-cent stamp.
They send love letters via e-mail. Or heck, why not just Tweet or text one’s devotion?
Even greeting cards are starting to be replaced, though in a only a minor way so far, by purchased-online “e-cards.”
Add in a recession that has cut down on advertising mail and the decline of magazine subscriptions, and you get a painful squeeze on the postal service.
The neighborhood mailman is not about to go out of business. But the amount of mailing (and postage income) is plummeting. The service is losing money by the bucketful. Work forces are being cut, everything from stamp sales to letter sorting is being mechanized, up to a tenth of the nation’s post offices could be closed this year, and Saturday delivery could become a thing of the past.
Zapped further by the recession, the service reported recently that in the Jan. 1-March 31 quarter, it had a net loss of $1.9 billion nationwide. People sent 14.7 percent fewer pieces of mail in that quarter than in the same quarter a year ago.
Next time you complain about that 2-cent raise in the price of a stamp, realize that the postal service spent more money than it took in during 10 of the past 11 quarters.
“We have seen an unprecedented decline in mail volumes and revenue that continued to accelerate during the second quarter,” Postmaster General John Potter said in May.
Cuts being made
Ratliff said the service is fighting back by cutting its work force and work hours, mainly by offering early-retirement deals and not replacing employees who leave. By year’s end, the service expects to reduce its number of paid work hours by the equivalent of 57,000 full-time workers.
Though it still employs 650,000 career employees (down from a high of 800,000 a decade ago), more and more workers are being replaced by machines, such as the address-reading sorters at the Carol Stream processing center that can go through 36,000 pieces of mail an hour instead of the 1,000 that used to be sorted by a human clerk at the Elgin post office. Businesses get a discount on postage for sorting their ads or bills before they even get to the post office.
With 1,400 workers, the Carol Stream distribution center that sorts mail from the northern Fox Valley and the Hampshire-Burlington area is huge. But in 1992, it had 3,000 employees.
Recognizing that, as Ratliff puts it, “We have more facilities than we have mail,” the service also announced last month that it is thinking about closing 3,200 of the nation’s 34,000 post offices. Most of those are metropolitan branches or stations, according to an article in MSN Money. And in March, the postmaster general asked Congress for the right to stop delivering on Saturday.
True, some trends are heading in the mailman’s favor. One reason newspapers, magazines and local radio stations are in a sorry state is that advertisers who want to reach an entire town’s population increasingly have moved to direct-mail ad campaigns. But the recession has hit this field as well, and the genre’s nickname of “junk mail” reminds that it is especially easy for a recipient of such ads to dodge them.
Shoppers are doing more and more buying online instead of down at the corner mall. And once they order something from eBay or amazon.com, it has to be shipped to them somehow. “You can’t send packages electronically,” Ratliff notes.
Delivery competition
But lots of that growing parcel business is being grabbed by private competitors like FedEx, UPS and DHL. And the recession is cutting into sales online as well as in stores.
To fight back, Ratliff said, “We are trying to make it easier to mail packages, with new products like the Flat Rate Priority Mail Box. Anything that can fit into that box, you can send for one low rate. That has become very popular with eBayers.”
The service’s Web site, www.usps.com, has gotten into the interactive age by providing ways for someone to design their own greeting cards or even print up postage stamps bearing the face of their high school graduate.
Still, Americans depend on and perhaps even love their mail system like no other people on Earth. The United States accounts for 46 percent — practically half — of all mail sent anywhere in the world, even though our country has just 5 percent of the world’s people. No. 2 in the world, Japan, accounts for just 7 percent of the sent mail.
“Even though mail volume has gone down, mail will always be an important part of American life,” Ratliff believes. “It’s become such an important part of the economy. We will adapt and respond to the changing world.”
Ethical Implications of the USPS Mystery Shopper Program
By Bob Wilson, 6/17/2009 from Postal Mag.com
Over the last several years, I have become increasingly uncomfortable with the ethical implications of the deceptive practices of the USPS retail operation, as exemplified by the “Sales Script” and enforced by the “Mystery Shopper” program. These unscrupulous tactics, dictated by somewhere far up the chain of command (perhaps from the PMG himself), amount to nothing short of theft, in addition to treating our customers with contempt as it relates to their time and individual needs. This was brought into clear focus recently by a transaction with a young lady I have met at church, but whom I have never seen previously at the Post Office.
Like many college students, she had completed her courses for the term and had sold (via eBay or similar) one of her used textbooks. According to the Sales Script, I was to offer her Express Mail (which, priced around $35, was almost surely inappropriate for such a transaction), and if/when she declined that, to offer her Priority Mail. In this instance, Priority Mail for that heavy textbook would have been in the range of $15 – $20, still far more than was warranted by the situation. Still according to the Sales Script, only when she specifically asked if there was anything less expensive was I allowed to tell her about Parcel Post, priced around $9 or $10. I have been explicitly instructed NEVER under any circumstances to offer Media Mail unless the customer specifically requests it, even if it seemed obvious that this was the best option for the customer’s needs.
By this point in the transaction, my conscience was literally screaming at me to tell her that there was a less-expensive option; to do otherwise would be a lie of omission. Here is a parallel example from another industry (http://www.wwdmag.com/Straight-Talk-About-Ethics-article3354):
If what you are saying or doing may harm the customer, it is unethical. Also, remember that we owe it to our customers to place their needs over ours. For example, Bob is two months behind in his car payment. His boss told him that if he doesn’t sell something tonight, he is fired.
He goes out on an appointment. The customer has a broken softener that could be repaired for $75.00. If Bob sells that client a new softener instead of telling them it can be repaired, that would be unethical, as it puts Bob’s need ahead of the client’s. It is a lie of omission not to disclose the situation to the customer. It does harm to the client. No one will ever know what Bob did if he unethically sells that softener, but doing right when it hurts and when no one will know is the mark of character.
In this instance, despite the knowledge that it was a direct violation of the official Postal policies that had been given to me, I told the young lady about Media Mail (priced around $4), which she gladly chose to use. I could not have done otherwise. But ALL of our customers deserve this same honesty, not just the ones we might happen to know personally. It is also unethical to show favoritism by telling some customers about better prices while withholding that information from others. Many of our customers are quite limited in their understanding of postal polices and pricing; they are dependent on us to inform them of their options. This is especially true of the elderly, young adults, and those for whom English is a second language. It is just plain wrong for us to take advantage of their ignorance; and we owe it to ourselves to resist this dishonesty.
Postal Service has survived past challenges — and it will again
By DAVID BECKER II
Special to the Herald-Journal
Published: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 6:50 p.m.
The Herald-Journal’s recent editorial, “Postal progress,” begged for balance in both logic and facts about the U.S. Postal Service, our employees and customers. Here’s some food for thought for your readers.
While it’s true that the recession and the Internet are contributing to difficult financial circumstances for the Postal Service, the major cause of loss of mail volume and revenue is the economy. Let’s not all throw in the towel and turn to the Internet without considering some important facts:
* The U.S. Postal Service is our nation’s third largest employer; its employees and customers represent a functioning, viable $900 billion economic cornerstone of our economy in a time when jobs are scarce.
* Eight-two percent of Americans still pay their bills by mail.
* Like other American businesses, the Internet has revolutionized customer service for the Postal Service with usps.com providing 80 percent of the services you get at a post office. In 2008, stamp and retail sales at the Postal Store totaled more than $442 million.
* The Postal Service has the largest fleet of alternative fuel vehicles in the nation: 43,000 in all.
* According to the Environmental Protection Agency, advertising mail accounts for less than 2.4 percent of municipal waste in landfills.
* Postal Service Priority and Express packaging is free, eco-friendly and recyclable.
* Thanks to the Postal Inspection Service and the Office of the Inspector General, delivery of your mail is secure.
* Less than 4 percent of identity theft happens through the mail; the remainder comes from illegal computer access of personal information.
* Without the Postal Service providing affordable, universal, surcharge-free prices, private shipping rates would likely skyrocket.
* Is e-mail cheaper than a 44-cent stamp? Consider the cost of the computer, the Internet service provider fee, the power bill and the ongoing equipment upgrades.
* About one-third of our population does not have Internet access.
* Ideas to charge per e-mail already have been considered by Internet service providers. Without a postal alternative, service providers could charge and raise the cost for each e-mail at will.
* Other forms of communication (TV and the Internet) have a considerable negative environmental impact, sending outmoded models to landfills by the millions. According to the National Safety Council, only 11 percent of computers get recycled, and small-time consumers alone add 10 million computers to landfills each year.
From the telegraph to the Internet, new technology has historically caused many predictions of the end of the Postal Service. But because the Postal Service is able to adapt and change to ensure secure, affordable, universal delivery, it has withstood similar threats to serve our country for almost 250 years.
David Becker II is the Spartanburg postmaster.
Lands’ End becomes first catalogue client of Royal Mail’s Sustainable Mail service
by Noelle McElhatton, Marketing Direct 27-May-09, 09:00
LONDON – Upmarket clothes catalogue Lands’ End has been signed up as the first mail order client of Royal Mail’s green DM postal service, Sustainable Mail.
The service, launched in April, offers a lower price tariff for mail that meets environmental criteria in line with the new DM green standard, PAS 20:20. Black Horse Personal Finance and Standard Life are already using Sustainable Mail.
Lands’ End, which sells high quality casual clothing and footwear by mail order and online, has just posted its first catalogues using the Sustainable Mail service.
Direct mail posted through Sustainable Mail is priced up to 4.7 per cent lower than standard Mailsort prices and is available to mail users that meet criteria based on three environmental criteria: improved sustainability, minimised waste and increased recyclability.
Tim Curtis, Lands’ End managing director, said Sustainable Mail would help the mail order firm “ensure every aspect of our catalogue distribution programme is sustainable”.
“We were already doing what we thought was right for the environment, such as delivering our catalogues without polywrap, but Sustainable Mail highlighted other ways we could be more environmentally friendly, and rewards us for doing them. It’s a great service and we’re delighted to give it our seal of approval.”
Subscribe
Recent Comments
- Adam Hartung, Chicago, IL on Are You Disruptive?
- Tweets that mention Why Direct Mail Will Always Be In Style | Going Postal -- Topsy.com on Why Direct Mail Will Always Be In Style
- Tweets that mention Less mail equals more opportunity | Going Postal -- Topsy.com on Less mail equals more opportunity
- Tweets that mention Direct Mail Scare Tactics… | Going Postal -- Topsy.com on Direct Mail Scare Tactics…
- Tweets that mention Post Office Bailout… Not So Fast | Going Postal -- Topsy.com on Post Office Bailout… Not So Fast