On  August 7, 2012 the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC)  approved the 2012 Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion scheduled to run November 7 – 21, 2012, with registration beginning September 15, 2012.   The  holiday promotion is designed to spur mobile purchasing by putting mobile-optimized promotional offers, coupons and catalogs into their customers’ hands in time for Black Friday-Cyber Monday shopping sprees.

As technology changes the marketing landscape, the Postal Service must ensure that direct mail continues to be a relevant part of the marketing mix. This promotion is intended to show how direct mail combined with mobile technology can be a convenient method for consumers to do their holiday shopping. 

This is the third promotion the Postal Service has offered to encourage the integration of mail and mobile technology – the initial being the 2011 Mobile Barcode Promotion, and the second is the Mobile Commerce and Personalization Promotion that began on Sunday, July 1^st.

Discount and Rebate Amounts
The Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion will provide business mailers with an upfront two-percent postage discount on Standard Mail® and First-Class Mail® letters, flats and cards (presort and automation) that include a mobile barcode or print/mobile technology that can be read or scanned by a mobile device and leads the recipient to a mobile optimized shopping website.  The technology must lead the recipient to a website that allows the recipient to purchase an advertised product on the mobile device (the sale of services will not qualify). 

Mailers may also qualify for an additional one-percent rebate on the postage of their qualifying mailings if a portion of their orders are fulfilled via Priority Mail® between November 9, 2012 and December 31, 2012. 

The Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion Program Requirements describe the rules in further detail. It can be downloaded from RIBBS at: https://ribbs.usps.gov/index.cfm?page=mobilebarcode.

“With 2nd Ounce Free, companies have greater flexibility to offset mailing center costs by including additional promotional offers with bills, invoices, and statements,” said Gary Reblin, vice president, Domestic Products. “Business mailers now have the option of using higher quality paper stock or larger envelopes to create greater impact.”

The new 2nd Ounce Free option is not a limited time promotion, but a new price for First-Class Mail automation and presort letters. The new pricing does not apply to single-piece letters.

“No registration is required, no minimum annual thresholds apply and no payment rebates are needed since 2nd Ounce Free pricing is offered upfront,” said Reblin.

Mailers can use 2nd Ounce Free to inform, educate and strengthen customer loyalty by providing additional information, such as advertising material, announcements, coupons, disclosures and notifications. The extra free ounce also can be used to conduct consumer research with surveys and reply cards.

“2nd Ounce Free is one of the many ways the Postal Service is adding value to First-Class Mail,” said Reblin.

The USPS pricing changes for Mailing Services and Shipping Services were implemented Sunday, January 22, 2012.

The new Price List, known at Notice 123, is now available for download at the following URL:

http://pe.usps.gov/cpim/ftp/manuals/dmm300/Notice123.pdf

Please feel free to call 760-943-6200 with any questions.

Postmaster General Pat Donahoe

In a recent video, Postmaster General Pat Donahoe discusses how legislative action, network changes, and wage and benefits negotiations may save the post office $20 billion and make the USPS profitable by 2013.

Click the link below for his complete video message and a letter to customers regarding postal reform:

http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/pmg/welcome.htm

Highlights of the new single-piece First-Class Mail pricing, effective Jan. 22, 2012, include:

• Letters (1 oz.) – 1-cent increase to 45 cents
• Letters additional ounces – unchanged at 20 cents
• Postcards – 3-cent increase to 32 cents
• Letters to Canada or Mexico (1 oz.) – 5-cent increase to 85 cents.
• Letters to other international destinations – 7-cent increase to $1.05

Prices also will change for other mailing services, including Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services and Extra Services. Today’s announcement does not affect Express Mail and Priority Mail prices. More information on the new pricing is available at
http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2011/pr11_factsht_pricechng_1018.pdf.

“The overall average price increase is small and is needed to help address our current financial crisis,” said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. “We continue to take actions within our control to increase revenue in other ways and to aggressively cut costs. To return to sound financial footing we urgently need enactment of comprehensive, long-term legislation to provide the Postal Service with a more flexible business model.”

While actual percentage price increases for various products and services varies, the overall average price increase across all mailing services is capped by law at 2.1 percent, the rate of inflation calculated based on the Consumer Price Index.

For business mailers, today’s announcement offers good news for First-Class Mail Presort mailers. When the new prices go into effect on Jan. 22, the second ounce for presorted letters will be free. “This gives companies expanded opportunities to advertise new services and products to their customers as part of bill and statement mailings,” said Paul Vogel, president and chief marketing/sales officer.

And new for all customers is a 3-month pricing option to rent PO Boxes, perfect for people on the move and others who need a PO Box for a short time period.

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

The United States Postal Service^® encourages the growth of automation letter-size First-Class Mail^®. The Reply Rides Free program provides an incentive for customers to include more content in their automation First-Class Mail letters by providing a postage credit for the extra weight.

Here’s how it works…

• The credit applies to First-Class Mail automation letters weighing more than 1 oz up to 2 oz .  All of these mail pieces must have a basic or a full-service Intelligent Mail barcode.
• Letters must include a reply card or envelope, either Courtesy Reply Mail™ or Business Reply Mail^®. The reply piece may be in the format of a reusable envelope. Permit reply mail is not eligible for this program.
• At the time of mailing, customers will pay the applicable 2-oz price for these mailed pieces. The postage credit will be for the amount paid for the second ounce and will be provided for those pieces mailed during the 2011 calendar year when the mailer’s volume of commercial presorted automation letter-size First-Class Mail meets a pre-determined volume threshold. All First-Class Mail presorted and automation letter-size volume counts towards meeting volume threshold; however, only First-Class automation letters mailed under basic or full-service Intelligent Mail will be eligible for a postage credit.

*The program will run from January 2, 2011 through December 31, 2011.

For more information on this program,go to https://www.usps.com/business/promotions/reply-rides-free.htm and download the Reply Rides Free Fact Sheet and the Rides Free FAQs.

If not, be sure to read 7 Reasons to Implement Google Analytics.

Google recently made Analytics even more powerful by incorporating some improvements to mobile reporting.

Why should you care about mobile traffic and reporting?

Because mobile adoption rates are skyrocketing. In fact, smart phones and tablets are expected to outsell computers this year for the first time. This means that the percentage of visitors coming to your site from a mobile device will continue to grow.

When you use the new version of Analytics (Click “New Version” in the righthand corner next to “Analytics Help Center”) you’ll now see a “Mobile” section with two new reports.

Mobile Overview Report – provides a simple breakdown between mobile and non-mobile traffic.

Devices Report – provides details on the actual hardware that visited your site.

Use these reports to analyze how mobile visitors and various hardware are performing on your website and explore how you might want to modify content, formatting or other elements to improve the user experience and maximize conversions.

Mail that was held in the U.S. Postal Service network is being released today and transported to Canada in stages. Customers will experience some delays in service due to the large volume of mail that was being held. The USPS is working closely with Canada Post to minimize these delays and to return to normal service levels as quickly as possible.

Additional information and updates regarding acceptance and movement of international mail is available at www.usps.com/communications/news/serviceupdates.htm.

DMRDirect.com QR Code

The Mobile Barcode Promotion runs July 1 through August 31, 2011, providing business mailers an upfront three percent discount on presort and automation mailings of First-Class Mail cards, letters, and flats and Standard Mail (including nonprofit) flats and cards.

In order to participate in the promotion, mailers must submit a hardcopy, nonaddressed sample of the mailpiece, showing the placement of the mobile barcode, when mailings are presented for acceptance and verification.

Mailers should also retain a copy of the mailpiece.

Other key requirements include:

• A two-dimensional mobile barcode – readable by a mobile smartphone – must be on or in each mailpiece in a mailing.
• The barcode must be used for marketing, promotional or educational purposes and be relevant to the contents of the mailpiece.
• Postage must be paid with a permit imprint and electronic documentation (eDoc) must be submitted to PostalOne! Commingled, combined and co-mail mailings, including MLOCR mailings, may qualify for the promotion if separate postage statements are submitted for each client taking the discount.

See complete details on the Mobile Barcode Promotion final rule Federal Register.