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Mailmark is Royal Mail’s newest
franking mark. Introduced in 2014, the
2D barcode takes the place of a stamp
or existing frank mark and contains
data which makes it easier for Royal
Mail to process mail.
Royal Mail has invested heavily in this
new technology and customer migration
to the Mailmark option is growing.
One of the biggest reasons to upgrade
is cheaper franking – Mailmark users
make a saving of at least 2p per letter
compared to the standard franking tariff.
Another attraction has always been
the promise of useful new services for
customers. But have these actually
materialised?
The short answer is ‘Yes. But in a trickle’.
Pre-Pay Reply
When Mailmark was introduced, Royal
Mail also launched a Pre-Pay Reply
service not previously available to the
franking channel. This gives users the
option to include a franked pre-paid
reply envelope in a mailing to encourage
customers and prospects to respond. End
users can post the reply paid envelope in
any post box.
David Beirne, Neopost’s Royal Mail
Products and Services Manager, says
a number of sectors have found this
service particularly useful, including
estate agents, solicitors, financial
advisors and councils.
Streamlining BMA
This July, Royal Mail is introducing
improvements to the Business Mail
Advance (BMA) process, which it says
will save franking customers even more
time in the mailroom.
BMA offers additional postal
discounts for high volume users.
Organisations that send 500 or more
letters in one batch and meet certain
requirements for the preparation
and presentation of mail can obtain
a discount from the franking tariff.
Discounts are based on volume so the
more letters sent in one transaction, the
bigger the discount.
David Beirne says the re-worked
product will improve the user experience
and that customers who have trialled
the service have recorded high levels of
satisfaction.
“There will be no need to log your
order on an Online Business Account, no
need to create a sales order or count the
mail,” he said. “The pricing and rebate
process will be managed through the
franking account held with your franking
supplier so there will be no back office
handling or banking of cheques. It also
offers improved transparent invoicing.”
This month Royal Mail is introducing its second Mailmark-enabled postal service.
Worth the
wait?
Mailing
Supplier solutions
In addition to Royal Mail derived
solutions, franking machine
manufacturers are developing
their own services compatible
with Mailmark franking
machines.
For example, Pitney Bowes provides
an additional cloud-based solution,
INVIEW, which captures information
from the franking machine and shares it
back to clients. This enables businesses
to review data to help them improve
their postal efficiencies and maximise
their postal budgets.
Colin Forrest, Director, Demand
Generation, SMB Mailing Solutions
Europe at Pitney Bowes, says that other
Mailmark services will be developed in the
future. “Pitney Bowes continues to work
with Royal Mail on potential solutions
for the MailMark franking channel and is
confident new products and services will
continue to evolve, which will harness
the MailMark technology Royal Mail has
deployed,” he said.
The future
Franking machine users who made the
switch to Mailmark expecting to be able
to enjoy a raft of new mailing services
on top of reduced postal tariffs might
have been disappointed with the results
so far.
The good news is that more products
are in the pipeline. The bad news is that
neither Royal Mail nor franking machine
manufacturers are currently able to
comment on what they might be or
when users can expect to see them.
Discounts
are based on
volume so the
more letters
sent in one
transaction,
the bigger the
discount.
