Saturday, June 18, 2005

Snail mail vs. e-mail

U.S. Postmaster General John E. Potter, speaking to a group of 400 advertising professionals in Troy, Mich. last week, discounted the safety and effectiveness of e-mail and urged marketers to "Use the mail."

To illustrate, Potter cited a study commissioned by the United States Postal Service that found that consumers who receive catalogs in the mail viewed 22 percent more pages on the retailer's website, and spent 16 percent more money than those who don't."

"And while 57 percent of households say they check their e-mail only once a week*, 98 percent of households collect and assess what's in their mailboxes everyday."

[*A recent AOL study says we're all addicts, checking it as much as 5 times a day]

Potter also indicated that the Postal Service wasn't going out of business anytime soon because of the Internet. Currently they have a $3.1 billion operating surplus and anticipate a $1 billion-plus surplus by the end of the year.
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posted by Don Schilling at 9:48 AM