Why send letters online?
It is well known that history repeats itself. Remember when it was so exciting to get a letter in the mail? But then it became used only for bills and junk you don't want to read, as emails took over. And now, emails aren't too exciting either. Isn't it the worst when you get back to work from vacation and have so many to sift through? We get spammed with hundreds of emails which are mostly junk. Now it appears as though we're going back to the old ways of getting excited by receiving mail; it just seems more personal.
Which, it is. It's refreshing to receive an actual letter, rather than checking yet another email notification. Knowing that someone has taken the time and effort into writing a letter, searched the depths of their drawers for an envelope and stamp, and searched out a post box to deposit it into, feels good! On the other hand, being the one who must spend that time sending the mail rather than taking the easy route and firing off an email or text, is part of the reason snail mail seems to have fallen by the wayside.
A report completed by Annabel Barnett for Citizens Advice states that “in 2000 around 28 million people a week visited a post office, by 2015 this had fallen to 17 million a week.” So, in just fifteen years, visits to post offices declined by 11 million per week. With email services being offered for free, with instant delivery and ease, it is hard for mail to compete.
We humans are obsessed with the quickest route and simplest way... so, we like receiving mail, but hate sending it. PostSeal saves you the hassle of a trip to the post office, while also eliminating the need to keep a stash of envelopes and stamps on hand; yet maintaining that little thrill of getting mail. Although it’s not quite as personal as an actual handwritten letter, it’s the thought that counts, and you can still send a letter in your own handwriting; it will just be a printed out picture of it in an envelope, rather than the original ink itself.
So how does it work? For the sender, it's similar to an email, really. You just upload the mail you want to send, then PostSeal takes care of printing it off and mailing it quickly and securely for you.
Many people may wonder why you would need to use this service, other than to skip the post office. Other popular reasons may include:
International Mail. If you're overseas, it means you can send mail back home when you're not even there. Navigating the rules of mail services in foreign countries can be stressful. It can also be a bit risky to send mail internationally – it may be unreliable as well as untimely. With PostSeal's services, you can be sure that it will be mailed out quickly and efficiently.
You Can’t Get to the Post Office. The National Federation of Sub-postmasters says 1,000 branches are currently listed as closed and warns that 2,500 are at risk over the next year. With the amount of post office closures, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find post offices locally. You may also not own a car or are unable to drive; or maybe you’re elderly, disabled or injured and not physically able to make it there. Whatever the reason, you don’t have to worry about making a trip to the post office when using PostSeal.
Avoid the Telephone. Another reason to use online postal services is to avoid lengthy phone calls with customer services. Cancelling subscriptions, setting up direct debits, or claiming refunds for instance, can all be done by mailing forms via PostSeal. There are many companies which do not accept online submissions, instead requiring you to call into a call centre or send a form in the mail. Not only is this inconvenient, but can be time consuming and costly, depending on where the call is made to.
You Don’t Know How to Send a Letter. Interestingly, many people of the younger generation have never sent a real letter, and don't actually know how to do so. This may seem laughable to those individuals that grew up in pre-internet times, but due to the declining use of direct mail and increasing use of online services, it's becoming more and more common to have never sent mail before. According to the North Delta Reporter, "millennial customers are often unfamiliar with conventions for addressing and sending mail". Essentially, many millennials are postal illiterate. On the contrary, however, there are studies which show that millennials value and trust mail more than its digital counterparts. For instance, according to an article posted on Divvy, 82% of millennials view messages printed on paper as more trustworthy than digital messages. Furthermore, Barnett states in her report for Citizens Advice that “almost all consumers (97%) describe the Post Office as ‘trustworthy’”. In this digital era with so many hackers, it can be challenging to determine whether emails are genuine or not – this is where mail has the upper hand.
It's also easy for emails to accidentally be marked as spam and go into the junk folder never to be seen again, when they contain important information. The opposite happens with tangible mail; you never pick up your stack of mail and chuck any letter out without at least glancing at it first. There's a fear that you may miss out on something important by not opening that letter up. In fact, according to DMN3’s post of direct mail statistics, “70 to 80% of consumers polled by the DMA in 2014 say they open most of their mail, including what they label ‘junk’”. With PostSeal, you can be sure that your recipient will not only receive, but actually open their letter from you.
While it may appear as though mail is a dying service, there are many reasons why it could be revived instead. The personal feel, the reliability, and trustworthiness of mail compared to its digital rival will prevent it from ever truly going extinct. With the help of PostSeal, you can efficiently and securely send mail from wherever you are, without the inconvenience involved with traditional mailing methods.
References
https://www.dmn3.com/dmn3-blog/10-mind-blowing-direct-mail-statistics-and-what-they-mean/
https://neilpatel.com/blog/direct-mail-effectiveness/
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/332033/millennials-cant-even-lick-a-stamp-report.html
Published on 1/15/2020
Last modified on 3/8/2020