Informed Delivery provides eligible residential consumers with a morning digital preview of their household’s incoming mail scheduled to arrive that day. Users can view greyscale images of the exterior, address side of incoming letter-sized mailpieces (not the inside contents) via email or an online dashboard. USPS systems do not provide images of flats, but mailers can provide color images of letters and flats (plus additional content and a URL), along with date ranges and Intelligent Mail identifiers, to enhance the Informed Delivery user experience and improve campaign results. The Postal Service has continued to build out this service but there have been barriers to interest by mailers: number of mail recipients enrolled, knowing which addresses are enrolled in Informed Delivery, representation of flats in Informed Delivery and ease of setup for the multiple versions marketers use to target their audiences.
Number of Mail Recipients Enrolled
In early October, the USPS announced that there were 12.8 million registered users. They have a target goal of 40 million by 2020. Of the current 12.82 million, 10.76 million are Registered Households and 8.17 million are email-enabled users. They shared that there have been over 4,000 campaigns created and maintain a 65% email open rate.
Identification of Addresses Enrolled
Marketers have asked for a method to identify who is enrolled prior to a mailing. This will allow them to perform true market tests. The Postal Service has stated due to privacy they are not able to provide a pre-mailing flag to indicate enrollment.
Representation of Flats
Through the Mailers’ Technical Advisory Committee meetings (MTAC), the Postal Service also shared the increase in Flat Visibility. Flat shaped pieces such as catalogs and magazines were seldom represented in Informed Delivery because of USPS process flow (most carrier route flats receive no scans). They have started providing assumed scans based on documentation to report on pieces inside bundles to increase the representation of flats in Informed Delivery. These changes have increased flat mailpieces in emails from 13.6% in July of 2018 to 56.6% in August 2018. 62.4%. was reported for early September.
Ease of Setup
Currently, the tools in place make it difficult to create multiple test panels. 2019 upgrades to the system should improve the user’s ability to customize the reader’s experience.
