Mailing Systems Technology - November/December 2008 - (Page 20) TR E N D S Preparing for the FUTURE Part 2: Current events and trends driving value in the mailstream S By John L. Campo the country have been updating and streamlining the voting process to operate more efficiently and better serve constituents who vote by mail through secure systems. These systems help streamline mail balloting, providing election officials with an automated and accurate way to handle increased mail ballot volumes and the opportunity to reduce costs of hiring seasonal employees to prepare ballots and stuff envelopes. The voting by mail systems also help automate the inbound and outbound handling of ballots; standardize addresses conforming to USPS requirements; and apply barcodes that identify the correct precinct, party and language of each ballot recipient. In addition, the systems provide one-to-one reconciliation of every ballot mailed and received and verification, audit tracking and proof of mailing. This can help give election officials and voters peace-of-mind that the entire mail-in balloting process is monitored and managed in an end-to-end process. The outbound system delivers the ballots to the right voters at the right address, at the lowest cost. It offers mail ballot tracking and audit capabilities that meet public and political demands for transparency. When voters cast their vote through the mail, systems equipped with inbound mail ballot processing equipment ensure accountability with sorting and data capture equipment. Equipment sensors are programmed to look for anomalies like envelopes with two ballots or envelopes without ballots. Some systems also offer the flexibility to adapt to future voting requirements. The Rise of E-Commerce and Competitive Shipping Solutions The surge in Internet shopping and shipping of consumer goods is another key trend that is driving value in the mailstream. According to “The State of Retailing Online 2008,” an annual study released by Shop.org and conducted by Forrester Research, Internet sales are expected to grow to $204 billion this year. This is an increase of 17% from $175 billion in 2007. Also, last year, comScore, a company that measures the digital world, reported that $29.2 billion was spent online during the holiday season, marking a 19% gain versus the same period in 2006. Despite the slowdown in the economy this year, the value proposition that online shopping holds in offering convenience, efficiency and helping to save on gas by avoiding trips to the mall, will encourage many consumers to shop online again for holiday gifts. Package shipping solutions and services are playing a vital role in helping businesses deliver consumer goods purchased online in a timely manner and as cost-efficient as possible. This is especially important during peak e-commerce periods, such as the holiday season. Earlier this year, the Postal Service introduced new competitive delivery services and rates. This was made possible due to greater pricing flexibility provided by The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. This is enabling the Postal Service to more effectively compete in the shipping market and offer customers greater savings online for services, such as small package solutions for low-end shippers, versus the retail counter. The Postal Service is also providing great convenience, accessibility and savings to shippers through its online solutions and services. For instance, shippers who use everal key events and trends in the final months of 2008 will help drive value in the mailstream, from constituents voting by mail in the November Presidential election, to the rise in e-commerce and shipping during the holiday season. In addition, recent developments such as competitive shipping options introduced by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and mail’s role with delivering prescriptions to Americans through a secure channel hold great promise and value both now and in the future. Voting by Mail As Americans make their final decisions on which candidate to support in the upcoming Presidential election, voting by mail could play an important role with encouraging more people, who cannot make it to the polls, to cast their ballots. According to the Census Bureau, more than 16 million Americans who registered to vote in 2004 failed to go to the polls on Election Day. Almost half of those cited reasons for not voting that easily could have been overcome by absentee balloting. These included schedule conflicts, travel, inconvenient polling locations, illness or disability, bad weather or transportation problems. A survey Pitney Bowes conducted last year also indicated that 49% of Americans would find voting by mail to be more convenient than voting in person. Seventy-four percent of respondents reported that they would at least consider voting by mail if their state made it easy to do so, and 37% said they would “definitely” or “probably” vote by mail if it was made convenient. In recognition of citizens’ busy schedules and today’s technology, jurisdictions across 20 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2008 | WWW.MAILINGSYSTEMSTECHNOLOGY.COM http://www.Shop.org http://www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.