Royal Mail today announced plans to price items by size rather than weight alone for the first time since stamps were introduced in 1840. The cost of sending a bulky parcel would increase under the new system, although the price of posting a standard size letter would remain the same or even fall, the company said. Increased automation in the postal service means larger items often having to be dealt with by hand at extra cost.
Read MoreComment on Government (past & present) policy towards The Post Office. How it finds itself with the wrong balance between social and commercial objectives.
Read MoreThere is room for expansion in the direct mail market despite small and medium-sized businesses using the post less, according to the Royal Mail.
Speaking at a marketing and sales event in Bristol sponsored by the Royal Mail’s parent company Consignia, spokesman Richard Smith said people who dismissed the post as “snail mail” were out of touch.
A study by Internet measurement company NetValue found 550 million e-mails were sent and received by UK homes in January – nearly 300 million more than the domestic amount handled by the Royal Mail.
Alki Manias, managing director of NetValue UK, said: “This is a real milestone for e-mail. Although only widely available to the public since 1995, the e-mail has surpassed hundreds of years of domestic Royal Mail services in a few years.
Reviewing Progress [Royal Mail] by Gillian Wilmot, MD, Business & Consumer Markets, Royal Mail
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