From October 2nd 2023, Royal Mail plan to change their price structure for letter mailouts, which could impact many businesses that utilise direct mail services. This is far earlier than last year, as Royal Mail announced their 2022 price changes in November. However, the company have suffered an operating loss of £419 million over the last year, which is responsible for the early changes.
Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming Royal Mail Price Rises 2023, and how you can mitigate their impact on your business…
In A Nutshell
Stuck for time? Here are the proposed changes in a nutshell…
- Price of Business Mail letters to increase by 13.6%
- Price of Large letters to increase by 10%
- Price of Advertising Mail letters to increase by 10.7%
- Price of Advertising Mail large letters to increase by 10%
Royal Mail Economy Mail
With such price hikes, we anticipate that many customers may opt for the Royal Mail Economy service, as this option will provide less significant price increases.
Mailmark Advertising Mail Letters will have a difference of 2.494p per individual item between ‘standard’ and ‘economy’ mailouts. There is a similar difference when it comes to Mailmark Business Mail, which will see a 4.558p difference per individual item when comparing ‘standard’ and ‘economy’ mailouts. So, if you haven’t explored Royal Mail’s economy services, talk to us to see if this option is appropriate for your Advertising or Business mail output.
How Can I Reduce My Postage Costs?
Royal Mail still offer a variety of incentives to bring postal costs down, helping to mitigate these upcoming price increases. Here are a few options worth exploring…
Tray Discounts For Letters
Royal Mail find trays far easier to utilise when it comes to processing mail, hence why they are keen to encourage the production and distribution of mail items that are tray-eligible. As such, Royal Mail will be boosting discounts for Letter items presented in trays from 0.5p to 0.8p, and Large Letters from 1.5p to 2.0p.
Move To Access 70 Sortation Service
Royal Mail are encouraging customers to move to Access 70 services in order to save costs. By moving away from a 1400 service to the Access 70 service and planning to abandon their 1400 service completely in 2024, customers may be able to achieve the required container fills to enable them to move from bags to trays and enjoy the associated discount. Additionally, under Access 70 sortation, Royal Mail have two machinable Services which offer additional price savings provided that your mailouts meet the Optical Character Recognition specification or the Mailmark specification.
It is no secret that Royal Mail have been moving away from high sort naked mailings over the past few years, which has been reflected in its pricing structure changes. In fact, a 50k mailing campaign sent as a naked mailout would cost approximately £9,423 more than if it were sent via Mailmark Economy, which is the equivalent of a 29.8% saving.
Royal Mail Incentives
If you haven’t already explored the incentives available at Royal Mail, we highly encourage you to do so. Wholesale postage costs can be drastically reduced by taking advantage of the Advertising Mail, Business Mail and Publishing Mail offers. Royal Mail are able to reduce postage costs with these incentives by offering postage credits and hefty postage discounts. If you haven’t been taking advantage of these incentives, we highly recommend talking to a direct mail partner like ADM to review rates and incentives available – especially in light of the Royal Mail Price Rises coming in 2023
Direct Mail Partners
Speaking of direct mail partners, it is vital that you work with a direct mail company that is right for you. You should look for a partner that is proactive in seeking the latest postage deals, has good relationships with Down Stream Access providers, and is always in the loop when it comes to changes such as these Royal Mail price amends. However, your direct mail partner should do so much more than just provide you with information on obtaining the best postage prices. They should work with you to make every single mailout count – here’s how…
Direct Mail Data
Your data should be validated, tested and tidied to ensure that every single piece of mail is going to a customer that is likely to support your cause or make a purchase. At ADM, we process approximately 290 data cells per month across all of our direct mail campaigns. We ensure that your posted items get to the right place for the best price.
Addressing
Addressing correctly is vital for ensuring that each and every one of your mailouts is effective and reaches the right customers. That’s why we securely consolidate data to ensure you aren’t sending to the wrong addresses, duplicating mailouts, or including errors on your personalised mailouts. At ADM, we do this by carrying out data health checks, and consulting the Bereavement Register and National Change Of Address File.
Quality
When it comes to direct mail, every mailout counts. At ADM, we are passionate about getting your direct mail campaign right first time, which means that we carry out extensive quality control checks at every stage. We carry out hourly quality checks, as well as live proofs, carrying out visuals checks and counting into stock.
Print Savings
Finally, businesses are able to mitigate the rising cost of Royal Mail prices by saving costs elsewhere. By saving on print, the impact of these Royal Mail price rises will have less of an impact on your overall expenditure. At ADM, we work with print trade suppliers every single day – as a result, we have great relationships and experience when dealing with printers. This gives us unrivalled access to print deals and savings that we can pass on to you.
At ADM, we work tirelessly to ensure that each and every one of our clients makes the most of the opportunities and incentives set out by Royal Mail. If you’d like more information on how ADM can help you mitigate the Royal Mail Price Rises 2023 and assist you in saving costs across your entire direct mail process, simply fill out the form below:
