Pitney Bowes: UK postage increases are “wake-up call” for small businesses to review communication costs

As Royal Mail and Parcelforce’s new postal tariffs come into effect next week, Pitney Bowes is advising small businesses to review how these changes will impact them. As previously reported by Post&Parcel, new Royal Mail and Parcelforce postal tariffs will mean first and second class stamps will rise by a penny on Monday (27 March), taking first class stamps to 65p and second class stamps to 56p.

“This latest increase in postage costs is a wake-up call to small businesses to review how they manage their communication costs,” commented Ryan Higginson, Vice President & UK/ROI Country Leader, at Pitney Bowes.

“The growth in the volume of parcels inevitably has an impact on postage costs, which can be challenging for a small business to keep up with. We want to ensure that all businesses understand the significant price advantages of using MailMark meters for their post. Collectively small businesses in the UK could save millions annually by making this switch.”

Users of MailMark meters experience savings such as:

·         18p difference on every 2nd Class Letter compared to stamped mail

·         10 difference on every 1st Class Letter compared to stamped mail

Savings for parcels and packets are even greater using a MailMark meter:

·         Save £1.38  by sending a medium-sized 1-2kg parcel using MailMark rather than stamps

·         Save 83p by sending a medium-sized 0-1kg parcel using MailMark rather than stamps

Pitney Bowes is advising SMEs follow a 5-step plan to improve their shipping and mailing and making sure that they are benefiting from the latest digital innovations that now also offer advanced tracking solutions and guaranteed security:

Step 1: Gain a clear view of your data – what you send, to whom, how much it costs and which carriers you use

Step 2: If you’re shipping parcels, shop around – a multicarrier system can help you simplify your shipping operations and enable you to select the best carrier for every package

Step 3: Identify where you can make savings – digital meters, or franking machines, provide a significant savings on postage stamps for example

Step 4: See what’s out there – look at what’s changed since you last considered mailing technologies. From cloud-based platforms to Wi-Fi enabled meters, there’s been a mail revolution, so make sure you’re up to speed on your options

Step 5: Growth plan – make sure the technology you’re selecting is futureproof and accelerates your growth, instead of hindering it

“Shipping and mailing strategies are a springboard for small businesses to boost customer service and impress customers,” added Higginson. “This latest postal rate change will hopefully get SMEs to do just that.”