The U.S. Postal Service is definitely on the right track with its planned promotion to offer mailers discounts for using mobile-enhanced QR codes on mailing pieces sent in early November. In fact, the USPS may even be a little ahead of the curve in this decision.
Specifically, the postal service is offering mailers a 2% discount on standard and first class letters, flats (catalogs) and cards displaying mobile QR codes sent out between Nov. 7 and 21. The USPS is sweetening this deal by offering mailers an additional 1% discount if a small fraction of their orders are filled via priority mail for the rest of the year.
So far, mailers don’t seem to be biting on the Priority Mail discount, with some saying it’s not worth the trouble to the take advantage of this incentive. Of course, they’re all welcoming the postage discount.
By offering price breaks only to companies having mobile-enhanced sites, the USPS is showing it’s keeping up with the times.
In its promotion last summer, the postal service required mailers only to have a QR code prominently displayed on a mailing piece but not necessarily tied directly to a mobile site. But directing recipients from a QR code to a site that isn’t mobile optimized makes the QR code feel like a gimmicky space filler.
Even with the meteoric grown of mobile-enhanced websites, not every marketer has them yet. I suspect those that don’t are working feverishly to get them in place by Sept. 15 when registration opens for this latest QR code promotion.
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