USPS management should develop a business strategy for hybrid mail (mail that is sent in digital format but can be received in hard copy), and establish measurable goals for affiliated partners to increase revenue, the agency’s inspector general has said.
The Postal Service offers hybrid mail services through agreements with partners Click2Mail, Cardstore.com, and Premium Postcard, and has developed its own hybrid mail platform, the Direct Mail Hub, in fiscal 2011, focusing on small- and medium-sized business.
According to the IG, the Postal Service’s revenue with its partners dropped 58 percent, from $11.4 million in fiscal 2007 to $4.8 million in fiscal 2011 because there was no strategic plan promoting hybrid mail products and the affiliated partners’ agreements did not include measurable performance goals.
Management could increase revenue by offering transactional mail, which includes invoices, statements, surveys, and reminders and by addressing related privacy issues, the IG said. It noted that the USPS may have lost $4.1 million of potential revenue annually in fiscal 2011 and 2012 and could potentially increase revenue by at least $3.8 million annually in fiscal 2013 and 2014. Management agreed with the findings and last September took partial corrective action by establishing revenue goals with its affiliated partners.
