Nov 6, 2010

End of Direct Mail?

Posted by Wendy Weber

When Direct Marketing News runs an article titled Abandoning the Mail, we know direct mail has seen finer days.

Although multichannel marketers will continue to use mail as part of their mix for the foreseeable future, it is evident from this article that direct mail is on borrowed time.

The USPS saw a precipitous decline in volume in the last four years, dropping from 213 billion in 2006 to 177 billion pieces in the next three years. “If mail volume were to drop much further, the Postal Service could enter a graveyard spiral of continuous price increases and volume declines,” according to a September study from George Mason University, which adds that the Postal Service could reach “a new price-cost equilibrium.” The study also warns that “there is uncertainty about how much of the recent decline is related to the cyclical events associated with the ‘Great Recession’ of 2007-2009 as opposed to the secular trend of substitution that has been noticeable for many years.” In other words, it’s very unlikely mail volumes will return to pre-recession levels.

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