Along with the changing colors of trees and cooler weather (at least here in WI), Fall brings a few changes to First-Class Mail® parcels. Effective October 3, 2011, First-Class Mail commercial Base and commercial Plus parcels will be removed from the Market Dominant (Mailing Services) product offering (recall that these pricing categories were just introduced in April!), and replaced with a new First-Class™ Package Service Competitive Product (Shipping Services). In doing so, the USPS will have greater pricing flexibility based on a price floor, rather than a price cap (e.g. CPI).

With the move of Commercial FCM parcels to the Competitive category, parcels mailed at commercial Base prices will be open to Postal Inspection and cannot contain documents or personal correspondence, i.e. content defined as a ‘letter’ per 39 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 310.1. (The CFR describes a ‘letter’ as a message directed to a specific person or address and recorded in or on a tangible object.) An exception to this limitation of personal, ‘letter’-type content is that parcels may contain invoices, receipts, incidental advertising, and other documents that relate in all substantial respects to merchandise contained in the parcels.

This change may impact some of you… There are generally two applications for FCM parcels. One application is that of light-weight merchandise such as electronics or pharmaceuticals. In most cases, the new regulations won’t impact this application as these parcels may contain invoices, receipts, incidental advertising, and other documents providing they relate in all substantial respects to merchandise contained in the parcels.

A second application for FCM parcels is often used as a cost-saving alternative to Certified Mail™ and Return Receipt pieces. Documents, i.e., ‘letters’ are placed in parcel-type containers and then combined with Delivery Confirmation™ or Signature Confirmation™ to gain delivery information at a lower overall cost. And since April, with this type of application, you may have enjoyed the discounted single-piece FCM Commercial Base parcel price (15 cents lower than the retail price). However, with the Oct. 3rd change, since personal correspondence won’t be permitted within the new First-Class™ Package Service commercial Base parcel category, you’ll need to resort back to the FCM Retail price for those parcel applications. For “non-personal” type parcels though, First-Class™ Package Service commercial Base parcel pricing can apply.

Pitney Bowes will be providing information as to how to process packages based on the new pricing category…. So please stay tuned!

And as always, I welcome your feedback… including how you most often use First-Class Mail parcels… for documents? for merchandise?

Until next time,
Elizabeth

CASS stands for Coding Accuracy Support System and serves as a common platform to measure the quality of address-matching software. This is important to mailers as using CASS-certified software can significantly reduce costs associated with UAA mail such as wasted postage and material costs, or even delayed delivery resulting in unhappy customers.

The USPS periodically updates the rules and specifications for CASS-certified software; these periods are called Cycles. With each Cycle, additional CASS requirements are put in place to further reduce UAA mail. In this current Cycle M, CASS-certified software must include a number of functionalities such as accuracy in five-digit, ZIP + 4, delivery point and carrier route coding, locatable address conversion and SuiteLink® (optional), just to name a few. The objective of their functionalities is simply to reduce undeliverable mail by providing the most current address information for matches made to these files.

CASS Cycle N takes effect August 1, 2011.The most significant change with Cycle N is the mandated use of the SuiteLink® product. SuiteLink® enables improved business addressing by adding known secondary (suite) information to business addresses, and allows automated delivery sequencing for the Postal Service™. While SuiteLink will be required, a June 10th DMM® Advisory stated that mailers will not be required to show the suite number returned by SuiteLink in the printed address. Instead, mailers may generate a delivery point barcode derived by incorporating the suite number indicated by SuiteLink.

For additional information, please go to the CASS web page on the Rapid Information Bulletin Board System (RIBBS®).

Pitney Bowes solutions are ready for CASS Cycle N. SmartMailer™ included CASS Cycle N certified software in our June 2011 release. AddressRight Pro will include CASS Cycle N certified software in our August release.

I welcome your comments. And for technical questions regarding SmartMailer or AddressRightPro, please see our support page.

Thank you ~ and enjoy the remainder of the summer!
Elizabeth

One frequent question and answer that I’d like to share is “Which Priority Mail and Express Mail packaging qualifies for Commercial Base pricing?” Many mailers have the impression that Commercial Base pricing is limited to only Priority Mail or Express Mail flat-rate boxes or envelopes. Rather, USPS-provided Priority Mail or Express Mail packaging or packages properly identified/labeled as Priority or Express Mail along with an approved postage payment method may qualify a mailer for the discount, i.e., Commercial Base pricing.

Here’s a quick re-cap of some of the qualifying postage payment methods that you may be familiar with as a PB customer.  The Domestic Mail Manual states that Priority Mail Commercial Base prices are available via a number of methods.  Some include approved PC Postage products with a qualifying shipping label, such as our pbSmartPostage solution, or mailers using a permit imprint such as our SendSuite outbound shipping solution (keep in mind, the use of a permit imprint means that you must meet a mailing volume requirement), or approved IBI postage meters that print the IBI with the appropriate price marking (that’s the inscription next to the indicia that reflects Commercial Base pricing) and electronically transmits transactional data to USPS, such as our DM Series and Connect+™ mailing systems.

Express Mail commercial base prices are available via a number of methods as well.  Some include mailers using an Express Mail Corporate Account, or approved PC Postages solutions and IBI postage meters as noted above, and mailers who pay postage with a permit imprint using the Electronic Verification System (EVS) program.

As a reminder, Priority Mail and Express Mail Commercial Base pricing is about 5 – 6% lower than retail rates, so using the right solution is a great way to save!

If you have specific questions, our Forum site is an ideal way of getting rapid support.  And if you haven’t signed up for our Customer Connections e-newsletter, you can do so by clicking here.

I welcome your comments relative to if/how you’re using Priority Mail and Express Mail ~ perhaps as a means of lowering your overall shipping/carrier costs.  So please feel free to post a comment here regarding your thoughts on this topic!

If you haven’t heard, the Postal Regulatory Commission did indeed approve the Postal Service’s Mobile Barcode Promotion! This promotion is pretty exciting because unlike other incentive programs that provide rebates, this promotion essentially rewards mailers launching campaigns incorporating two-dimensional, smartphone-friendly barcodes with an upfront 3 percent postage discount on qualifying Standard and First-Class Mail letters, flats or cards.

According to Tom Foti, USPS Manager of Marketing Mail, the Mobile Barcode Promotion is another step in the Postal Service’s strategy to ensure mail remains relevant as a key element in the overall advertising mix.  The promotion is intended to increase awareness of how integrating technology increases the value.

If you’re not familiar with “mobile barcodes”, the most common one is the QR code, which is a two-dimensional code readable by barcode readers and camera phones. The information encoded can be text, a URL or other data. QR codes appear almost anywhere, i.e., magazines, signs, vehicles, business cards, and in the case of this promotion, envelopes, and they drive consumers to take action, e.g., scanning the barcode to reach a web page, coupon, etc.

Highlights of the Mobile Barcode Promotion include:

• Program period July 1 through August 31
• Open to mailers of qualifying commercial First-Class Mail® or Standard Mail® (regular and nonprofit) letters, flats or cards
• Postage statement must be submitted electronically via PostalOne!® (A separate postage statement is required for all mailpieces with mobile barcodes)
• Permit Imprint is required payment method
• All mailpieces must include a mobile two-dimensional barcode on the outside or within the mailpiece
• Information relayed in the mobile barcode must be relevant to the contents of the mailpiece to market, promote, or educate

Pitney Bowes solutions may assist you in participating in this promotion.  For example, our SmartMailer™ and AddressRight® Pro presorting software, in combination with the USPS Postal Wizard, helps to prepare and submit commercial (discounted) First-Class Mail® and Standard Mail® mailings. Also our document creation solutions including PlanetPress® and PB FIRST enable design of 2-D barcodes within documents.  The Connect+ mailing systems can print QR Codes and messaging directly on your envelopes in a single pass, along with a return address, logos’s and even the required Permit imprint.

Details regarding the Mobile Barcode Promotion can be found on the USPS RIBBS® website.
If you have specific questions about the program, you can reach out directly to the USPS by email: MobileBarcode@usps.gov

I welcome your thoughts regarding this promotion.  What do you think about this promotion?  Great play on the part of the USPS?  Do you plan on participating?  If so, what type of campaign or strategy do you plan to use with your mailings?

Thanks so much,
Elizabeth

TIP #3: Use your Pitney Bowes Mailing System or Shipping Solution to Gain Delivery Information and Help You Save Money!

Hello again!

Customers in my Mail Management Seminars tell me that their biggest mail/shipping center objective or initiative is to mitigate mailing and shipping costs while maintaining efficiency, including the ability to track and/or know that their packages have been delivered. To that end, many are changing the way in which they use USPS Extra Services and also are moving some packages from other expedited and ground carrier services to the USPS.

To accomplish this, the USPS® offers many services that can confirm delivery of letters/flats and packages and so Pitney Bowes customers are using a number of our solutions to process their mailpieces with Delivery Confirmation™, Signature Confirmation™, and e-Return Receipt ~ at the reduced “electronic” prices.

For example, you might consider some of these mailer best practices to gain delivery information of your packages while minimizing costs.

If you simply need proof of delivery, instead of using Certified Mail™ (the fee alone is $2.85), you could use electronic Delivery Confirmation™ and save up to 27%. The “math” works like this… Postage for a 1 oz. letter is 44¢. Add the Certified Mail fee and your total is $3.29. Whereas, if you were to put those documents into a “parcel” type container, you’d be able to use electronic Delivery Confirmation and reduce your postage spend. On most PB meters, the current postage for a First-Class Mail® parcel is $1.56 (that’s the 1-3 oz. Commercial Base single-piece price). Add the electronic Delivery Confirmation fee of only 19¢, and take on a few extra cents for the cost of a “parcel” type container (as that may be a bit more than the cost of a #10 envelope), and you’ve got a savings of almost a dollar per piece.

Or, if you needed proof of delivery with a signature, instead of Certified Mail with a Return Receipt, you may want to choose Signature Confirmation™ and save up to 24%. Postage for a one-ounce letter plus the Certified Mail fee and the “green card” return receipt fee ($2.30) is $5.59. But if you were to put those documents in a parcel-type container and use electronic Signature Confirmation ($2.05), you could save more than $1.00 again per piece!

Some of my customers say that in using Delivery and Signature Confirmation on parcel-type containers, there is a bit more visibility of that piece, i.e, the package jumps out from that pile of mail! They also say that using First-Class Mail parcels and Priority Mail® with Delivery and Signature Confirmation instead of some next-day or second day/ground services of other carriers, their carrier expenditures have been greatly reduced, as the USPS doesn’t add on all those assessorial charges.

If requirements within your business or organization do require the use of Certified Mail and Return Receipt, you might consider using the electronic option of Return Receipt. The fee is only $1.15 as compared to the “green card” fee of $2.30, and in addition to hard dollar savings, you gain efficiency in not having to fill out the forms, and also in the ability to manage the signature files electronically rather than manually!

As always, I welcome your comments on this topic, such as your success stories in leveraging USPS classes of mail and Extra Services to manage costs.

If you have questions or concerns regarding your equipment, please go to www.pb.com/ratechange to find out more or to contact us.

Leverage the Benefits of Flat-Rate and Regional Rate Packaging and Your PB Postage Solution!

In January of this year, the Postal Service introduced a number of new flat-rate packaging options for Priority Mail® and a new “Flat-Rate” legal-size envelope for Express Mail®.  A number of my customers have already taken advantage of the new legal-size envelope and are seeing great results in savings and delivery!

As you know, the attractiveness of Flat-Rate packaging includes that the price is fixed, regardless of actual weight (up to and including 70 pounds) or zone.  The eco-friendly packaging (great if your company has got a “green” policy!” is free and can be conveniently ordered from the Pitney Bowes Expedited Shipping Services website at www.pb.com/expedited-shipping-services/ or on the USPS Postal Store® site at www.usps.com/shop.

Further, packages can be picked up at no charge with the Carrier Pickup™ service (this comes as a pleasant surprise to some of my seminar attendees!), or for a small fee, picked up at a date and time convenient to the shipper with Pickup on Demand® service.  You, or those that send packages to your mail/shipping center, can create a shipping label on, or access the Carrier Pickup™ site from, the PB Expedited Shipping Services website! And as you know, you can enjoy the savings of Commercial Base pricing for flat-rate packages when using an approved postage payment method, such as our Connect+™ or pbSmartPostage™ solutions!

I’d be remiss in not mentioning the relatively new Priority Mail® Regional Rate boxes which were also introduced in January of this year; these are available to Commercial Base and Plus shippers.   Pricing is based on box size and zone. Regional Rate Box A has a maximum weight limit of 15 pounds and Box B has a maximum weight limit of 20 pounds. The box A and B categories have a top-loading and a side-loading design option.  With the “If it fits, it Ships” USPS concept (you got to love those Postal Service ad’s on TV!), these boxes can be a huge postage saver for shippers, especially when the contents are heavy!  For example, a 15# Priority Mail® package shipped to zone 4 would cost approximately $20.00 whereas postage for those contents, if packaged in Regional Box A, would be less than $6.00.  A customer told me recently that in doing an assessment of their most common shipments, they were able to move about 25% of their shipments to the Regional boxes ~ and saved a ton!

So if you’re trying to mitigate postage and shipping expenditures, you might consider doing an analysis of your own.  Combining the lower postage rates (vs. Retail) of Commercial Base pricing via your Connect+™ mailing system or pbSmartPostage™ with the advantages of Flat-Rate and Regional packaging could be a huge win!

I welcome your “best practices”, comments and feedback! And in the meantime, please click to our Postal Info website for more tips on how to save.

We ask that you keep all comments related to this blog topic. Posts outside the topic may be removed. If you have customer support questions or issues, please click to our Customer Forum.

TIP #1: Use your Pitney Bowes Mailing to save up to 10% on shipping

As of April 17, 2011, Commercial Base pricing will be available not only for qualifying Priority Mail® and Express Mail®, but also for First-Class Mail® (FCM) parcels.

In short, the term “Commercial” from a USPS perspective means that postage is discounted from Retail pricing. Prior to April 17th, there were two price categories for FCM parcels, Retail and Commercial. Retail prices applied to single FCM parcels, and mailers that met certain preparation and volume requirements (e.g., 500 pieces minimum) qualified for commercial (discounted) prices. Effective April 17th, “commercial” FCM parcels is split into two new categories, Commercial Base and Commercial Plus. Each of these new categories offers single-piece and presorted pricing options.

You can qualify for “single-piece” Commercial Base pricing when an approved postage payment method is used, such as an Pitney Bowes IBI (Information Based Indicia) meter that electronically transmits transactional data to the USPS, i.e., our Connect+™, DM Series™ or an approved online method such as our pbSmartPostage™ solution.
For “single piece” prices, there is no minimum volume requirement (unless the shipper is using a permit imprint which requires a minimum of 200 pieces or 50 pounds).

So as it pertains to easy ways to save…Using a qualifying postage payment method ~ such as your Pitney Bowes DM Series™ or Connect+™ mailing systems, or our new Online Postage solution pbSmartPostage™, you can enjoy Commercial Base pricing for Priority Mail and Express Mail which is approximately 5% less than retail pricing, and now~ for your single-piece FCM Commercial Base parcels ~ a 15-cents per package savings (up to 10% based on weight) over Retail prices!

As always, I welcome your feedback and in the meantime please click here to find out even more ways to save!

On April 17th, new pricing takes effect for USPS® Mailing Services products.  To set the record straight, as I seem to get a lot of questions from mailers on this, it was new pricing for USPS® Shipping Services that took place last January.  So this isn’t a second price increase for the same postal services.

Mailing Services, also called “Market Dominant” products, includes First-Class Mail®, Standard Mail®, Periodicals, and Package Services (Library and Media Mail, Bound Printed Matter and Parcel Post®), as well as Extra Services such as Certified Mail™ and Return Receipt.  Pricing is determined by, and capped or limited to the Consumer Price Index ~ which for this price increase is 1.741%.   And what this means is that the overall percentage change for each class of mail cannot exceed 1.741%.  However, within certain price cells of each class there may increase significantly higher than 1.741.  For example, if you happen to be a mailer of Standard Mail® parcels, you can expect an impact to your postage spend in that area of 11%.

One of the more interesting changes is the new “Commercial” category for First-Class Mail® parcels.  This will include Commercial Base, and Commercial Plus FCM parcels.  Today, in order for a mailer to enjoy postal discounts on First-Class Mail®, he or she must have a minimum of 500 pieces of the same shape, such as all letters, all flats or all parcels, sort and prepare them according to postal regulations, and submit to the business mail entry area of the Post Office.  However, with the new FCM Commercial Base pricing, a mailer need only use a qualifying postage payment method such as our Connect+™ Series or new pbSmartPostage™ mailing solutions to enjoy a 15 cent postage savings per parcel.

There are more complex rules relative to the FCM Commercial PLUS category for parcels.  For more detailed information on this new category, and other changes for April 17th, as well as strategies and solutions to mitigate this increase, please join me on April 6th for a free webinar, “Best Practice Mailing Strategies To Help You Gain The Most From The New USPS® Rates” where I’ll be addressing the upcoming USPS® rate change and how you can gain the most from implementing some best practice mailing strategies.  You can also click here to learn more.

As always, your comments and suggestions are most welcome and appreciated!

- Voltaire

Having spent more than a decade in the high volume transaction output industry, I have witnessed numerous waves of innovation, automation, and optimization in how businesses communicate to their customers and prospects.  These waves have levered information, document, IT, and production assets to streamline processes, wring out cost, improve integrity, refine targeting, increase relevance, and strengthen messaging in the never ending battle to optimize the customer/channel mix, lower the cost to serve, and yet maintain an ongoing profitable dialogue.

I have also witnessed how businesses have attempted to change the behavior of their customers to move to lower cost channels. With regards to e-messaging they have attempted to raise awareness of environmental benefits, offered improved record keeping, “secured” email, provided modest financial incentives, all the way to treating a mailpiece as a lottery ticket where the customer could win thousands in cash or a new car if they would only go paperless.

In both of these cases it has been business setting the terms of the relationship with the customer. However with the consumerization of IT, the ubiquity of broadband, and the explosive growth of smartphones and now tablet computers, the terms of the relationship are changing quickly.

A vicissitude is a sudden or unexpected change or shifts encountered in one’s life, activities, or surroundings. For high volume mailers, they should now take heed from the quote from Voltaire above. It is time to let customers define the terms of the conversation – yet at the same time not go broke in trying to manage the relationships with these newly empowered patrons.

Resolving this dichotomy was a core design principle of Volly™– to create a level playing field for both mailers and consumers – what Gartner coined as the “mutually managed experience.” Consumers have been provided a platform and experience to opt-in, be alerted, receive, and manage content, payments, and opportunities when, where, and how they want. Mailers and other providers have been given an opportunity to securely send content to consumers via Volly at a substantially lower cost while levering their existing production, document, and information assets to make it happen.

Take a look at Volly. And get in the game…

For the past 18 months, I have been immersed in a project to help Pitney Bowes create something completely digital, and completely new. Today, I experienced real joy as we announced this new service to the world. It’s called Volly™, and it promises to bring the real advantages of digital delivery and interaction to the medium of physical mail.

You can read all about it in the press release that I have pasted below. If you’re a mailer, prepare yourself for a future in which you can have richer and more robust interactions with your customers, and at a much lower cost. If you’re a consumer, hang in there for a few more months. We’re putting the finishing touches on a service that will help you save time, save money, and put you in complete control of who markets to you.

Welcome to the future of customer communications. It’s called Volly.

Pitney Bowes to Launch Volly™: Secure Digital Delivery Service that Connects Mailers and Consumers