Navigating rising postage costs

At Latcham, we’re aware of the issues that the rising cost of Royal Mail’s postage services pose to businesses. We don't control these increases, but we’re delivering solutions to mitigate against them.

How do we do this? Well, it’s simple really, we know our industry inside out, especially the strategies, technologies, tips and tricks that save our clients time and cost without compromising quality.

Why the rising cost of postage?

Royal Mail has seen a significant drop in the volume of post that they're handling, from 22 billion addressed mail at its peak in 2006, to just 7.3 billion in 2023, as this volume has dropped, Royal Mail have been increasing their postage prices, with most significant price increases seen in recent years. Latcham's per pack postage costs have almost doubled since 2018, increasing by 91.77%. The past three years alone (2021 - 2024) have seen the steepest increase of 51%, compared to the 27% increase observed from 2018 to 2021. These rising costs influence not only what is being sent and how frequently, but also the method being used to send these communications. To eliminate postage costs, many businesses are moving to digital solutions for communication fulfilment. But we know that printed communication will remain an essential part of industry, because of the tangible user experience it brings. With that in mind, we're helping our clients navigate these rising costs by delivering intelligent fulfilment solutions that utilise the power of good data.

The power of data

An effective way to mitigate against rising postage costs is by improving data quality. At Latcham, when we receive a data file from our clients, we clean the data, we use Cygnus by Royal Mail to detect, correct, or remove corrupt or inaccurate records from the dataset. This process involves multiple filters which ultimately ensures that items aren’t posted to individuals who won’t ever receive them. By doing so, all communications reach the intended recipient, and our clients avoid unnecessary time or costs associated with handling returns or undeliverable mail. 

Data cleansing carries significant benefits, over and above the fact that your mailing initiatives will be more accurate, and your datasets will be up to date. If you’re facing challenges with rising postage costs and are interested in how improved data quality will reduce costs, then reach out to us at Latcham. We’re here to help!

Intelligent Fulfilment Solutions

We’re solving problems and making you aware of what is possible so that you can make the best possible decisions for your communications fulfilment needs. To follow in this series are other solutions that we provide:

• Segmentation: More power in data - aiding businesses by categorising their audience into distinct segments. This enables more personalised, engaging, and effective communication.
• Address matching: Even more power in data - if multiple sets of physical communication are being sent to the same recipient, we consolidate those documents into a single envelope resulting in significant postage and material costs savings.
• Packaging formats: We optimise packaging formats to ensure any package sent has the correct sizing, correct postage category, and therefore delivering on security and cost-effectiveness commitments.