2017 MOBILE SHOPPING PROMOTION Version 5 August 15, 2017 Page 3 III. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS A. Mailpiece Pre-Approval The Program Office requires that ALL mailpieces be sent for review via email to [email protected]. Each individual mailpiece must meet the program requirements. The Mobile Shopping Promotion provides an upfront 2% discount on qualifying postage for Standard Mail letters and flats pieces that include a mobile barcode or other qualifying print/mobile technology that can be read or scanned by a mobile device.
Direct Mail Discounts for Online Merchants Timed for Cyber MondayWASHINGTON, July 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ - Cyber Monday was the busiest shopping day last year. Up 29 percent over 2010, Cyber Monday's purchasing surge was no doubt due to a number of deals offered by retailers.
And with the deal the U.S. Postal Service is planning for online merchants this holiday season, Cyber Monday 2012 could be even better.Designed to drive online product purchases by putting mobile-optimized promotional offers, coupons and catalogs into consumers' hands, the U.S. Postal Service's 2012 Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion will offer online merchants an upfront 2 percent postage discount on Standard Mail and First-Class Mail letters, flats and cards (presort and automation) that include a mobile barcode or print/mobile technology — such as a QR code — that can be read or scanned by a mobile device and leads the mail recipient to a mobile-optimized shopping website.
The promotion will run Nov. 21, 2012.Mailers may also qualify for an additional 1 percent postage rebate on their discounted mailings if a portion of their product orders are fulfilled via Priority Mail between Nov. 9, 2012, and Dec.
The 2012 Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion is subject to approval by the Postal Regulatory Commission.' This latest pricing incentive solidifies the Postal Service's leadership role as a catalyst of e-commerce trade between consumers and online merchants,' said Gary Reblin, vice president, Domestic Products. 'The reliability of mail to serve as the on-ramp for mobile commerce, along with the tremendous growth of mobile devices, gives online merchants a surefire way to generate sales this holiday season.' By offering a short-term promotion linking mail and mobile devices during the key holiday purchasing timeframe, the Postal Service is providing online merchants with an incentive designed to increase industry adoption of a physical-to-digital marketing approach.'
For additional information on the 2012 Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion, go to. Program registration opens Sept. 15, 2012, and continues through Nov. Participants must agree to partake in a survey about the promotion.The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office™ Boxes. The Postal Service™ receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com®, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail.
If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.Follow the Postal Service on and atSOURCE U.S.
Postal Service.
Before you can begin to sell your product or service to anyoneelse, you have to sell yourself on it. This is especially importantwhen your product or service is similar to those around you. Veryfew businesses are one-of-a-kind. Just look around you: How manyclothing retailers, hardware stores, air conditioning installersand electricians are truly unique?The key to effective selling in this situation is whatadvertising and marketing professionals call a 'unique sellingproposition' (USP).
Unless you can pinpoint what makes yourbusiness unique in a world of homogeneous competitors, you cannottarget your sales efforts successfully.Pinpointing your USP requires some hard soul-searching andcreativity. One way to start is to analyze how other companies usetheir USPs to their advantage. This requires careful analysis ofother companies' ads and marketing messages. If you analyze whatthey say they sell, not just their product or servicecharacteristics, you can learn a great deal about how companiesdistinguish themselves from competitors.For example, Charles Revson, founder of Revlon, always used tosay he sold hope, not makeup. Some airlines sell friendly service,while others sell on-time service.
Neiman Marcus sells luxury,while Wal-Mart sells bargains.Each of these is an example of a company that has found a USP'peg' on which to hang its marketing strategy. A business can pegits USP on product characteristics, price structure, placementstrategy (location and distribution) or promotional strategy. Theseare what marketers call the 'four P's' of marketing. They aremanipulated to give a business a market position that sets it apartfrom the competition.Sometimes a company focuses on one particular 'peg,' which alsodrives the strategy in other areas.
A classic example is HanesL'Eggs hosiery. Back in an era when hosiery was sold primarily indepartment stores, Hanes opened a new distribution channel forhosiery sales. The idea: Since hosiery was a consumer staple, whynot sell it where other staples were sold-in grocery stores?That placement strategy then drove the company's selection ofproduct packaging (a plastic egg) so the pantyhose did not seemincongruent in the supermarket. And because the product didn't haveto be pressed and wrapped in tissue and boxes, it could be pricedlower than other brands.Here's how to uncover your USP and use it to power up yoursales:.
Put yourself in your customer's shoes. Toooften, entrepreneurs fall in love with their product or service andforget that it is the customer's needs, not their own, that theymust satisfy. Step back from your daily operations and carefullyscrutinize what your customers really want. Suppose you own a pizzaparlor. Sure, customers come into your pizza place for food. But isfood all they want?
What could make them come back again and againand ignore your competition? The answer might be quality,convenience, reliability, friendliness, cleanliness, courtesy orcustomer service.Remember, price is never the only reason people buy. If yourcompetition is beating you on pricing because they are larger, youhave to find another sales feature that addresses the customer'sneeds and then build your sales and promotional efforts around thatfeature.
Know what motivates your customers' behaviorand buying decisions. Effective marketing requires you to be anamateur psychologist. You need to know what drives and motivatescustomers.
Go beyond the traditional customer demographics, such asage, gender, race, income and geographic location, that mostbusinesses collect to analyze their sales trends. For our pizzashop example, it is not enough to know that 75 percent of yourcustomers are in the 18-to-25 age range. You need to look at theirmotives for buying pizza-taste, peer pressure, convenience and soon.Cosmetics and liquor companies are great examples of industriesthat know the value of psychologically oriented promotion. Peoplebuy these products based on their desires (for pretty women,luxury, glamour and so on), not on their needs. Uncover the real reasons customers buy yourproduct instead of a competitor's.
As your business grows,you'll be able to ask your best source of information: yourcustomers. For example, the pizza entrepreneur could ask them whythey like his pizza over others, plus ask them to rate theimportance of the features he offers, such as taste, size,ingredients, atmosphere and service. You will be surprised howhonest people are when you ask how you can improve yourservice.If your business is just starting out, you won't have a lot ofcustomers to ask yet, so 'shop' your competition instead. Manyretailers routinely drop into their competitors' stores to see whatand how they are selling.
If you're really brave, try asking a fewof the customers after they leave the premises what they like anddislike about the competitors' products and services.Once you've gone through this three-step market intelligenceprocess, you need to take the next-and hardest-step: clearingyour mind of any preconceived ideas about your product or serviceand being brutally honest. What features of your business jump outat you as something that sets you apart? What can you promote thatwill make customers want to patronize your business? How can youposition your business to highlight your USP?Don't get discouraged. Successful business ownership is notabout having a unique product or service; it's about making yourproduct stand out-even in a market filled with similar items.