Australia Post will give some relief to printers and mailhouses struggling through successive bulk mail price rises, with a three per cent discount for promotional mail.
The new Promo Post option will reduce the cost of mail batches of more than 4000 items sent on the regular delivery timetable from the PreSort price of 55.8c to 54.1c for same state and 57.6c to 55.9c for interstate.
The discount merely softens the blow of a seven per cent price rise in March, when Promo Post was mooted, and 13 per cent a year before – but is at least a significant discount from the basic stamp price that is set to jump to $1.
Australia Post says the 4000 article threshold covers 80 per cent of volume lodged as promotional in PreSort.
Senders are expected to assess for themselves if an article is promotional or not and include two unsealed samples for inspection by Australia Post.
The difference between promotional and transactional is fairly straightforward, including offers, advertising, or the promotion of a cause, and the vast majority of direct mail sent by printers would be covered.
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PIAA chief executive Bill Healey says there is a strong market for promotional mail and the discount should be bigger to help drive up volume.
“We do not expect Australia Post to commit suicide, but we would like to see it be more innovative and trial a more significant reduction to see if there is a shift from other mediums back to direct mail,” he says.
“It could very well be that an increase in volume from making it more competitive would cover the cost of lower prices.
“The question is whether this means Post really believes direct mail has a future, or if it is just lip service to the industry.”
An Australia Post spokeswoman says the new service recognises that mail continues to be an effective form of communication for businesses to use to engage their customers.
“Its introduction follows extensive consultation with the direct market industry to create a new service that will offer businesses more choice when using mail as a marketing tool,” she says.
“We expect Promo Post to be used by existing promotional mail users and to encourage further new users to trial and experience the positive results that promotional mail can bring to their business.”
Healey says the Coalition of Mail Service Stakeholders, which brings together industry groups, licensed post offices and unions will continue to work with Australia Post on the issue.
“While I do not believe merely cutting the March increase in half shows a great deal of courage, it at least seems more willing to engage than in the past,” he says.
“We need better communication between all stakeholders to build a cohesive strategy to manage the market realities of a shift away from print to digital.”
Healey says the PIAA will run workshops on changes to mail and how it affects printers.
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