I. GENERATE REVENUE

The market for mailing and shipping continues to change, shaped by competition, new technologies, and rising customer expectations. In response, the Postal Service is developing strategies to generate new revenue from its core business of mailing and shipping. Across all products and services, the Postal Service is adding new value, encouraging new applications for today‘s customers, and expanding access and convenience.

The Postal Act of 2006 introduced several changes affecting how postal services are designed, priced, and marketed. For the first time in its history, the Postal Service can make a profit and invest earnings back into the business. The most visible change is segmenting postal services into “market dominant” and “competitive” categories with separate pricing regimes. There is greater flexibility to tailor services to customer needs and adjust products and prices more rapidly to changing market conditions. In this document, the more descriptive terms mailing services for the market dominant category and shipping services for the competitive category are used.

In order to grow revenue, the Postal Service will enhance existing products, develop new products and features, and focus on better meeting the needs of small businesses. New applications will attract new users and increase the value of mail for existing customers. Intelligent Mail will fulfill the needs of businesses who require more information about the status and effectiveness of their mail. Capturing data that tracks the movement of goods and services in any network has become an important factor for managing cash flows, supply chains, and customer relationships.

The Postal Service will expand its outreach to new and untapped markets. More streamlined Standard Mail features will be developed for businesses interested in advertising by mail but held back by its complexity. For households, a key challenge will be improving the relevance of mail among new generations who have minimal experience using hard copy mail. The successful strategy to make mail quick, easy, and convenient will be expanded to include multiple new services for receivers of mail, and more extensive and easy-to-use online capabilities.

For packages, the Postal Service will continue to build on its “first mile – last mile” strengths to introduce new products with enhanced track and trace capability. Competitive and customized products and pricing will be used to promote growth. Online retail continues to be a catalyst for packages, and the Postal Service will capitalize on its natural link between the Internet and Main Street to grow its shipping business, especially in packages returned by households. Strategies for outbound international mail will include creating new and cost-competitive products wanting to reach international markets, inbound mail will leverage the unique last- for overseas mailers and shippers.