UK Royal Mail not afraid to lose business as online billing grows

Royal Mail claims it is not afraid of losing business as companies start to use e-mails for billing – the invention of the telephone did not kill off the letter, it points out.

The business handles 82m items of post a day, up from 50m items 10 years ago, partly thanks to the rapid growth of junk mail. “The daily mail bag has grown in line with the growth of e-mail,” said the company. “New mediums of communication have complemented Royal Mail and are not necessarily competition.” The volume of post has grown in part because of new technology. For instance, each mobile phone account generates a monthly bill sent by post. The rise of internet shopping has boosted volumes of packets and packages being delivered.

But although volumes of mail have gone up, their characteristics are changing. Social letter writing and card-sending is steady and likely to remain so, as most people would rather receive a birthday card than text message. Business-to-business mail, such as invoices, is migrating to e-mail. Consumers are increasingly writing e-mails rather than letters to companies, and the move towards paying bills by direct debit means the number of cheques sent by post has been dropping.

The most interesting area is business-to-consumer mail, which makes up 65 per cent of the postal market, according to Postwatch, the consumer body. Even though many people like to receive important financial information on paper, run-of-the-mill company communications are likely to migrate to e-mail.

Only the continued high volume of advertising and marketing mail will keep postmen and women busy. People in the UK receive only half the amount of mail on average as those in the US, and Postwatch predicts mail volumes will continue rising because of junk mail.