Tuesday 3 May 2022

Only half business customers happy to go paperless

Half of businesses’ customers are not happy to receive updates by email, despite many companies’ considering paperless communications as a great way to cut carbon.

Engagement levels are also lower when customers don’t receive updates by mail, with 88% reading their post, 76% reading emails, 58% reading texts and 44% responding to app notifications.

That’s according to research by Royal Mail Marketreach and Accenture, revealing that 83% of consumers want a choice in whether they receive communications via post or email.

Postage levels are being cut down by businesses to stop carbon emissions produced by transport and deliveries but they are seemingly now stuck in a dilemma of losing emissions or losing engagement.

Out of the 6,000 consumers surveyed, 57% revealed they are less likely to miss something if it is sent to them in a physical format – this has been exacerbated by the frequency of spam mail online.

The study showed that all age groups engage more with post, with 85% of Gen Z and millennials opening it.

In circumstances where the information needs to be read thoroughly, action needs to be taken on what consumers receive or when security and privacy are involved, the analysis found that sending mail was the best choice for businesses.

Phil Ricketts, Commercial Director at Royal Mail Marketreach, said: “[Mail is] an incredibly powerful brand touch point, which is invested with huge amounts of trust by consumers but one where there is massive opportunity to further leverage its impact as part of the customer experience.

“When executed well, customer mail can add both personal value to customers and commercial value to organisations.”