From the Box to the Bin

USPS Seeks Junk Mail Revenue

Social Issues – What is to be done about the malaise that has washed over the Postal Service in the era of instant, electronic communication? The USPS is hoping that its new online tool that encourages small businesses to use/increase direct mailing campaigns (aka junk mail) will help solve its financial woes.

Through the aforementioned online tool, small businesses will be able to send direct mailers to consumers in various areas without addressing individual pieces of mail. The endgame: more mail and more money for the USPS.

The service is called “Every Door Direct,” and the businesses participating will not be required to obtain any mass mail permits or licenses to participate. Those involved will pay 14.5 cents to send a piece of mail as opposed to the 45 cents that it currently costs to mail a letter. Through the online initiative, the companies will be able to mail up to 5,000 articles of marketing daily. Currently, the businesses being targeted are the 54% that advertise sans direct mailing campaigns, says Paul Vogel, president of the Postal Service.

The Postal Service suffered a $5.1 billion loss last year, simply because Americans are not sending as many letters. Vogel went on to say that the online tool could generate between $700 and $800 million in 2012 with the possibility of a billion dollar product by 2015, restoring some of the former luster of the USPS.

He did not mention the environmental impact that this return to bulk paper mailing would bring.

Read more at the Global Post.