Quadient has revealed half of Londoners have been annoyed by receiving a letter that looked threatening or alarming at first – such as a ‘final notice’ bill or medical test result – but actually turned out to be junk mail.
Physical mail is a dying art in the capital, with almost two-thirds (63%) of Londoners insisting we don’t send each other enough letters anymore. Asked to give an example of what they think businesses should be communicating with them in a letter, almost three-quarters (71%) said they expect to receive important documents through the post, rather than in an email.
Red letter day, or digital dexterity?
Asked why a physical letter from a business might be better than email, the main benefits cited were:
· Reliability: 66% like that you can guarantee delivery with letters.
· Safety: 36% pointed to the lower risk of hacking, phishing or being infected by viruses via letter, as opposed to email.
Asked about the benefits of receiving an email over a physical letter from businesses, Londoners called out:
· Accessibility: 52% appreciate that you can access emails from anywhere, at any time, provided you have an internet connection.
· Immediacy: 51% like that you can receive and reply to an email immediately, meaning you can communicate with a business much faster if you need to.
“While people are irritated by letters that look important but end up being junk, they still see physical mail as being very important,” said Anthony Coo, Product Head at Quadient. “Businesses need to respect this and ensure letters don’t become a dying art – using them for the right kind of communication, such as important contracts and documents, rather than irritating people with adverts and offers.
“At the same time, clearly, email is a much better way to communicate a matter that needs dealing with immediately, such as a burst water pipe or averting fraud. Businesses need to make sure they’re getting the right balance and using the best channel for the job.”