If you are one of the millions who have quit writing letters and are using email, as well as paying bills online—and a majority of us are—we are the ones who have reduced 1st-Class mail significantly. The USPS lost $3.1 billion in the third quarter and is threatening default on payments to the feds. To stem the flow of red ink, the Postal Service is asking Congress to change the way it operates.
Here are some statistics from the USPS: It delivers mail to 149 million residences, businesses, and P.O. Boxes; There were 13.5 billion catalogs mailed in 2009; Junk mail represents 52% of total U.S. mail volume; In fiscal 2010, the USPS processed 171 billion total pieces of mail; On average, junk mail catalog buyers spend 28 percent more and buy 28 percent more than non-catalog buyers. So, we call it junk mail but it could be the only thing that keeps the Postal Service in business.
As a former data broker, I sent the article, above, by email to several people in the industry. I received only one comment, from David Avrick, President and founder of Avrick Direct, a firm that deals in mailing lists, supporting its clients in their mailing programs.
Re. my earlier article comments on computer predictive modeling, Avrick talked of a model he did for Fredericks of Hollywood. The company thought their market was age 18-29, but after the modeling discovered their customers were married, age 30-40, living in the suburbs. In other words they had been targeting the wrong customers, mailing millions of catalogs to the wrong profile.
David Avrick also has ideas on what the USPS needs to do to modernize itself. First, go to 5-day weeks; adjust hours to accommodate after-hour work for consumers; shut down 75 percent of post offices; establish mail box protocol that is centrally located; finally, break the stronghold unions have on the Postal Service. Avrick also thinks 1st Class mailers like the financial business will eventually disappear.
To summarize, the junk mailers need to concentrate on computer models that focus on their customers, eliminating those who don’t buy. With the increased revenue from this chosen group, they can afford to mail to them more often and the U.S. Postal Service enjoys increased revenue. Eventually we might even drop the term “Junk Mail.”
Read more here.