Mail volumes in Australia have been declining since 20081, while smartphone adoption has reached 52% penetration, compared with just 37% in 20112. Are these two statistics inter-connected? Absolutely. Emerging technologies that take advantage of this increased consumer connectivity are driving change in consumers’ communication preferences, directly affecting the print and mail channel. One emerging technology that will further drive print volume declines is the introduction of digital mailbox services – a channel for which InfoTrends has conducted extensive research. In fact, in the US, we expect digital mailbox services to represent 7% of the business to consumer transaction document delivery market by 2015. Given that Australia represents a more consolidated market, it could follow a similar – if not more aggressive – adoption curve and increase the speed at which printed communications are being removed from the mail stream.
Digital mailbox services defined
Digital mailbox services are a secure delivery channel where consumers can view, manage and organise their digital communications from multiple providers in a single location, through a single login. Through this channel, consumers can receive and respond to various transactional communications, while also securely managing other business relationships, such as paying bills, uploading and storing documents, and receiving important notices and reminders.
In Australia, there are two digital mailbox services that will go live this year: Australia Post Digital MailBox and Digital Post Australia (DPA). In both cases, a primary goal of the service is to help businesses drive paper suppression among consumers. These services are free to consumers and the mailers pay a delivery fee (eg, a digital stamp) for document delivery. I recently caught up with key executives at each service to learn more about what they were working on.
Australia Post Digital MailBox
Australia Post plans to launch in October of this year, with its Digital MailBox leveraging the Volly technology platform from Pitney Bowes. Announced partners include AMP, Telstra, and Westpac, with others currently going through the onboarding process. Partners who distribute mail through the service will determine their own guidelines for whether or not users will need to go paperless, but there is a financial incentive for them to drive paper suppression.
Vicki Miller, general manager of Australia Post Digital MailBox, is excited about the upcoming service launch and sees this as a logical next move for the organisation. “We want to simplify processes for consumers. We want to help them manage their lives more easily and we believe that the Australia Post brand will deliver that to them.”
Digital Post Australia
Digital Post Australia is led by chief executive Randy Dean and is a joint venture between the two largest print service bureaus in Australia (Salmat3 and Computershare), as well as their technology partner, Zumbox Software. While public launch is slated for Q4 2012, DPA is currently in private launch and has a large utility, a large financial firm, and Computershare Share Registry Services signed and integrated to deliver mail through the service. Published pricing for a digital stamp sent through DPA is $0.15. Dean is confident that the service will be successful. “Most organisations have spent millions of dollars to transform their businesses to meet the demands of the digital consumer and, until now, postal solutions have not yet evolved to leverage those investments.”
InfoTrends’ opinion
It is imperative for print service providers to develop a strategy to support the changing needs of their clients. Print will remain an important component of the communication, but providers’ delivery needs are evolving to mirror the needs of their consumers.
Print service providers should position themselves to help facilitate cross-channel distribution of communications. Those providers that remain focused on print alone risk unsustainable margin pressure and eventual obsolescence. Digital mailbox services are one channel through which to consider partnership opportunities, however, a sound distribution strategy will embrace all traditional and emerging communications channels.
Matt Swain is associate director at InfoTrends
1. Australia Post Annual Report 2010-11
2. Our Mobile Planet: Australia, Google, May 2012
3. Fujifilm Holdings Company will acquire Salmat’s BPO business in October, including DPA)
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