Royal Mail today announced a £70 million (€81 million) initiative that will see barcodes addedto business letters so that large businesses can track their mail through the postal network.
Royal Mail believes the initiative will increase the value of mail to businesses by providingthem with the ability to track bulk mail consignments through to the delivery round.
It will launch in early 2014 on a phased approach, initially to 47 companies, organisations andmailing houses that collectively send more than eight million items of mail a day. Royal Mailexpects it will then be further rolled out to all business contract customers over the followingtwo years.
Each customer will be able to add barcodes to their mail, which will give them access to dailyonline reports detailing which mailings have been processed and sent out for delivery. Previously,this information had only been available through higher cost tracked services.
The company said large mail users would be able to improve their efficiency and customer serviceby staffing operations, such as call centres, based on the exact date customers receive statementsor business mail. It would also enable them to improve the effectiveness of marketing mailcampaigns and to more accurately link associated communications activities, such as a text message,with delivery of their mail.
Stephen Agar, Royal Mail’s Managing Director of Consumer and Network Access, said: “Theintroduction of this new barcode technology to letters will enable businesses to track the progressof bulk mail consignments through the postal network, helping them to improve their own efficiencyand customer service.”
The investment is part of Royal Mail Group’s strategy to manage structural changes in theletters market, which it said would continue to be an important source of revenue for the business.Generating almost £4.8 billion in reported revenue during the 2012-13 financial year, letterrevenue increased by 3% on a like-for-like basis.
