Post-Switch Urges Bulk Mailers to Consider Alternatives to Royal Mail
Independent postal broking agency, Post-Switch is urging high volume mailers to reduce postage costs by switching from Royal Mail before it puts up its prices.
On April 2nd 2007, Royal Mail raised first class postage by 2p and second class by 1p and its commercial service ‘MailSort’ increased tariff prices by 1 pct – 3.8 pct. As part of its pricing agreement up to 2010, Royal Mail is proposing a further price hike in April 2008 of 6p.
Post-Switch is an impartial postal broker, providing expert advice on matching direct mail to the most suitable supplier at the optimum tariff. Set up in 2006, Post-Switch is part of integrated communications group, Kingfisher. It understands where savings can be made on postage and will negotiate with up to 20 rival postal providers including DHL, UPS, and TNT to achieve the best price and the best delivery date.
Post-Switch already handles over one million items of mail each month and is working with high volume mailers like Marie Curie Cancer Care and NSPCC as well as commercial operator, Network Rail. The service offered by Post-Switch delivers direct mail campaigns in 48 hours and can secure savings of up to 22.5 pct against MailSort charges.
To incentivise companies to switch from Royal Mail to another provider, Post-Switch is offering those who sign up before 2nd April a postal price freeze until the end of 2007. This means that mailings will only cost the same unit rate for the rest of the year. So, if the rival operators to Royal Mail also raise their prices, Post-Switch clients will not be affected by the increase.
A comprehensive price and tariff comparison analysis tool is used by Post-Switch to advise clients on which postal providers offer the best rate for particular mailings. The enquiry process is easy; an email to [email protected] e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with the mailing criteria – size, weight, quantity and details of current provider – will receive a response the same day giving the optimum tariff by provider for the job.
As part of the service, Post-Switch will work with a client’s direct marketing team including the printing house or design agency to offer a commercial analysis of a client’s overall annual postage spend and recommend operators that will provide the best cost savings within the necessary delivery time frame. After Post-Switch has negotiated the best rate, the operator will collect and sort the mailing and then put it into Royal Mail’s downstream commercial network for final delivery by the postman.
Jonathan DeCarteret is the Senior Market Analyst at Post-Switch. He believes the best savings come from the flexibility of using one operator for one type of mailing say a DL or C5 mail pack, but then switching to a rival offering the lowest rate for, example, the delivery of a C4 pack.
Commenting on its offer to encourage companies to switch before 2nd April 2007 DeCarteret says: “This price freeze makes budgeting easier for 2007 direct mail campaigns. It allows the campaign team to factor in a fixed rate until the end of this year, regardless of how much the postal market fluctuates.”
The service might be of interest for loyalty brands such as Nectar, Boots or supermarkets who run large loyalty schemes suggests Steve Aston, Head of Creative Services at Hicklin Slade & Partners. Aston who spent the last seven years at Wunderman where he was Senior Production Manager working across Ford, Jaguar and Xerox, is not sure how much take up there would be amongst the largest direct marketing agencies with experienced postal knowledge, but he did admit that Post-Switch would be a useful service for buyers without a strong understanding of the postal market.
