The USPS Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion

The Postal Service provides an opportunity to add value to Direct Mail and increase Sales.

Understanding changes in consumer behavior will help marketers remain relevant and improve ROI.  To maximize reach, invest in a mobile-optimized web experience and look beyond a single marketing channel.

The Demand Exists

1. Smartphone ownership in the USA is 46%.
2. Smartphone adoption is on the rise in nearly every corner of the globe.
3. Since Christmas 2011, the tablet market has grown 19%.
4. Smartphone users are more likely to buy from retailers with mobile- optimized sites.
5. When faced with mobile site difficulty, 40% of consumers said they will go to a competitor’s website, and 19% said that a negative mobile site experience leaves the user with a very unfavorable impression of the company.
6. 62.4 million Americans access Facebook via their mobile device each month, with 38.2 million of these respondents stating that they use their phones to connect to social media almost every day.
7. Nearly 60% of respondents use Facebook via their mobile device to read updates of organizations, brands or events.

USPS Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion

Recently, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC)  approved the 2012 Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion scheduled to run November 7 – 21, 2012, with registration beginning in September.   The  holiday promotion is designed to spur mobile purchasing by putting mobile-optimized promotional offers, coupons and catalogs into their customers’ hands in time for Black Friday-Cyber Monday shopping sprees.
As technology changes the marketing landscape, the Postal Service must ensure that direct mail continues to be a relevant part of the marketing mix. This promotion is intended to show how direct mail combined with mobile technology can be a convenient method for consumers to do their holiday shopping. 

Discount and Rebate Amounts
The Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion will provide business mailers with an upfront two-percent postage discount on Standard Mail® and First-Class Mail® letters, flats and cards (presort and automation) that include a mobile barcode or print/mobile technology that can be read or scanned by a mobile device and leads the recipient to a mobile optimized shopping website.  The technology must lead the recipient to a website that allows the recipient to purchase an advertised product on the mobile device (the sale of services will not qualify). 
Mailers may also qualify for an additional one-percent rebate on the postage of their qualifying mailings if a portion of their orders are fulfilled via Priority Mail® between November 9, 2012 and December 31, 2012.