Postmaster General: Digital Dimensions Take Printed Mail, Packaging to New Heights

 

In her keynote address opening this year’s National Postal Forum, Postmaster General and CEO Megan Brennan highlighted the many new ways the Postal Service and the Mailing and Shipping Industry are bridging physical and digital marketing channels to meet consumer and business needs.

"New combinations of physical and digital are proving to be a growth opportunity for our industry," said Brennan. "Organizations see significant increases in sales that can be attributed directly to an integrated advertising campaign."

Postmaster General Brennan described innovations transforming the capabilities of mail by adding a digital dimension to the consumer experience. These included Informed Delivery, which allows residential customers to see a mobile preview of their mail, and provides businesses with a new way to engage consumers and extract more value from their investment in mail.

"More than 2,000 mail senders are now using Informed Delivery to entice consumers toward a website, a coupon, or to open an app or connect directly with a business," said Brennan. "This is a powerful offering that moves the mail recipient closer to making the purchase."

"Today, there are more than 16.4 million registered users of this powerful digital channel, and we are committed to growing our user base to 40 million customers by the end of 2020," said Brennan. "We will also expand our Informed Delivery offering by including package integration – this will provide a powerful new means of engaging for both package senders and recipients."

Describing the Postal Service information and technology infrastructure as a platform of products and applications to power growth and business opportunities, Brennan highlighted industry use of real time data to provide business insights and enhance customer value.

"Whether it is information that improves efficiency in payments, returns, processing, or that improves visibility into letters, packages, and transportation, the Postal Service Informed Platform offers a data-driven, customer-centric approach for our industry," said Brennan. "We leverage our information infrastructure to empower our business customers with the right data, at the right time so they can reach the right consumers, and so that those consumers can make the most informed purchasing decisions."

The Postmaster General also described the Postal Service commitment to helping America’s businesses differentiate their offerings through the delivery experience, and to speed the pace of innovations bridging the physical and digital to spur greater return on mail and package delivery investment.

The National Postal Forum – taking place May 5-8, 2019 in Indianapolis, Ind. – is an annual national gathering of more 4,000 professionals from the mailing and shipping industry. The four-day gathering enables industry professionals to learn and collaborate in service of their business.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

 

Source: USPS, May 6