Ecommerce Address Validation

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Top 8 Reasons You Must Employ E-Commerce Address Validation Today

Long before the trend of online stores or eCommerce existed, people invented different ways to shop from the comfort of their houses. The most common way to invite customers to place orders remotely was through the newspaper.

Back then, even comic books had several ads on a few pages for mail orders. Everything was simple, and there was no need for eCommerce address validation solutions!

Regardless of how much such techniques have changed, mail-order shopping always requires an accurate mailing address. From newspapers to eCommerce platforms, it is a must for businesses to know the correct address to shop the customer orders. And the best way to accomplish this goal is using an eCommerce address validation API!

Now, it seems so obvious. Right?

Humans are bound to make mistakes. The process of placing a mail order was challenging back then. And it was the hardest when businesses opted out of manual processes to get the customer errors corrected. Nevertheless, today, companies use modern tools to validate customer addresses on eCommerce websites and ensure accuracy.

This guide will discuss everything you are looking for related to eCommerce address validation and the troubles a business can face without the right tool.

Keep reading for more!

What is Address Validation for E-Commerce?

E-commerce address validation is a process that involves checking addresses for various inaccuracies and resolving related errors. PostGrid allows you to find any inaccuracies in your existing address lists. If an incorrect address is detected, our Rest API helps you fix it in just a few clicks. You can check customer data in real-time  as it is entered into your database using real-time tools.

Our team believes that eCommerce address validation involves several steps, like cleansing, parsing, matching, and reformatting the data. This process involves cross-confirming addresses against reference postcodes in the database or searching for datasets that need to be corrected or completed.

The Four Crucial Elements of Address Validation for E-Commerce

Several elements are involved in eCommerce address validation, depending on which source you use—cleansing, supplementation, validation, and standardisation.

• Cleansing involves fixing information, such as typos in a street or city name, swapped letters, misspellings, etc. You can also refer to it as fuzzy matching, which helps businesses avoid manual errors. It allows you to use eCommerce address validation to replace delivery information having errors to verified and updated mailing lists.
• In address supplementation, you add postcodes when it is missing from the address. The eCommerce address validation API also helps add other information, like DPV codes, internal units, geographical coordinates, etc. These details helo eCommerce companies fulfil orders speedily. They also use this data for marketing and operational purposes!
• Standardisation helps you reformat addresses according to Australia Post’s guidelines. This process allows you to speed up deliveries via the Post Office locally and nationally. Since the postal equipment reads the delivery addresses according to the prescribed format, it is essential to follow the rules. Otherwise, the Australia Post employees separate your items and hand-sort them, wasting time and effort.
• Effective eCommerce address validation solutions can confirm whether your addresses are valid and accurate. If not, PostGrid’s API or software can make the necessary corrections on the spot.

8 Reasons to Employ E-Commerce Address Validation Solutions

It can be daunting and time-consuming to call every customer and confirm their address, making eCommerce address validation essential.

If you are still not convinced, below are the primary reasons for using these solutions that can change your mind:

#1 It Improves Your Checkout Process

How often do we forget about our shopping carts on a website because the checkout was lengthy? We all are guilty of abandoning our carts after spending hours adding our favourite products because we think about returning later! The role of the eCommerce address validation API on your website involves assisting customers in completing their transactions and avoiding cart abandonments.

PostGrid’s eCommerce address validation solutions allow your customers to type their accurate mailing data with the least effort. They can start typing in the address field, and our API takes over and auto-fills the remaining details.

#2 Ensure Deliverability

Australia Post delivered 2.7 billion envelopes and packages across 12.6 million delivery points last year! Do you know what this means?

The Post Office has a lot of work and tries its best to deliver your items accurately. But it helps when you cross-check your addresses using PostGrid’s eCommerce address validation service. It allows the postal workers to function more smoothly and drop off your packages in the specified time.

#3 Enhance Data Quality

Your database quality decides whether your business succeeds or takes a hit! It empowers all departments across a company to bring their pre-defined strategies to life.

An eCommerce address validation solution lets you enrich your data by adding missing details, filtering outdated information, segregating, and removing duplicates.

You can determine your achievable results better and plan according to them if you use eCommerce address validation to manage your databases.

#4 Nurture Company-Customer Relationships

Providing your customers with an impeccable shopping experience on your website allows you to improve their satisfaction levels. Most customers seek a brand having well-designed websites with excellent UX to shop regularly. And eCommerce address validation can help your company take that spot!

You can use the collected data for other reasons, like

• To send coupons to customers
• Plan a personalised campaign to thank them
• Open new stores or make similar administrative decisions, etc.

#5 Save Money With Accurate Shipping

You can expect to get mail returns if your company sends packages with incorrect addresses because you do not use an eCommerce address validation API. The Post Office may hold the items for some days for the recipients to collect. But it is hard to find the intended recipients in the first place with inaccurate details. So they send the packages or envelopes back.

Using eCommerce address validation to block incorrect addresses at the source and replace them with valid information helps avoid this scenario. With PostGrid, you never have to repack a package or spend extra on postage again!

#6 Boost Internal Productivity

Your company can coordinate the internal activities and logistics using eCommerce address validation to collect customer data. It helps save your staff’s time and motivates them to focus on other areas.

This automated solution helps format the addresses correctly using the Australia Post-prescribed specifications. It allows your teams to access high-quality databases to make crucial decisions and fulfil their responsibilities.

#7 Generate More Revenue

Inducing more sales and boosting incoming cashflows are primary advantages of using an eCommerce address validation service. You can improve your website conversions by integrating our API into your web pages, increasing your revenue directly.

Businesses can reduce unnecessary expenses, avoid reshipping, and prevent lost packages—which equals more revenue!

#8 Incite Brand Credibility and Trustworthiness

You can gain your audience’s trust when you:

• Complete orders within the specified delivery standards.
• Become proactive about customer queries.
• Ship packages to the correct destinations.
• Help customers finish transactions on your website speedily.

PostGrid’s eCommerce address validation API is the all-in-one solution to help you accomplish these goals and boost credibility!

More On PostGrid’s E-Commerce Address Validation Services

Our address verification solutions consist of various state-of-the-art, high-tech features to help you improve your shipping processes. 

• Native integration: PostGrid’s eCommerce address validation API offers effective Zapier integration to help you connect with 1600+ apps without coding. Our standalone software platform also enables you to verify addresses effortlessly in microseconds. 
• Bulk eCommerce address validation: Our batch verification capabilities allow you to check 200k addresses in one go! You can cleanse, parse, standardise, and verify delivery addresses according to postal guidelines, improving deliverability ratios. 
• AMAS-certified: AMAS stands for Address Matching Approval System! Australia Post uses it to rate address verification vendors according to their capability to cleanse delivery data. PostGrid is AMAS-certified, ensuring you can deliver your packages via the Post Office.
• Geocoding: Our eCommerce address validation solutions can help you get latitudes and longitudes for any destination you want. Our reports also include the accuracy scores and how we zeroed down the geocodes. They enable you to use the data for data management, advertising, and administrative reasons. 
• Data privacy: PostGrid complies with the Privacy Act 1988, ISAE 3402, ISO 9001, ISO 27001, PCI DSS Level 1, and SOC 2 – IRAP (Australia). You can process your mailing lists using our eCommerce address validation API without worrying about data breaches and other similar issues. 
• RESTful API: Our RESTful API and software are in-built to process millions of API requests simultaneously. You may also test your company’s API calls painlessly with our test and live keys. 

Conclusion

If your business relies on shipping data to process orders, a validated eCommerce address solution can be a game changer. It allows them to access authoritative databases—a pool of the most recent customer addresses. You can benefit from this information to ship your packages to the correct recipients and maintain highly-valuable databases. 

PostGrid’s postal address verification is easy to set up and use, letting all companies employ it without disrupting their regular workflows. It adds to your business processes to cut costs and increase profits. 

Request a demo to see how our eCommerce address validation API can facilitate your shipping tasks and improve efficiency!

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The post Ecommerce Address Validation appeared first on PostGrid.

source https://www.postgrid.com.au/ecommerce-address-validation/

What is Hybrid Mail

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What Is Hybrid Mail And The Top 5 Reasons For Using It For Your Business?

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “hybrid”? For most of us, the first thought circles around efficiency and low pollution. You are probably familiar with the terms automobiles and powerplants. Most people find it surprising that there is a hybrid system in mailing too. 

Unfortunately, many businesses need to learn about what is hybrid mail or why it is crucial for their business. It is an ideal approach for a business organisation to quickly and efficiently print their business correspondence and mail them.

But that’s just a short answer to the question, “what is hybrid mail?” If you want a more detailed answer to that question and truly understand how the hybrid solution is ideal for your business, you should keep reading.

What Is Hybrid Mail?

The hybrid mail process uses a combination of electronic and physical postal delivery to mail marketing or communications materials. An advanced hybrid system mailing includes several printers located at different locations.

Typically, you can transfer printable data to one of the hybrid mail service printers closest to the final delivery location. The service provider prints the digital data you provide and mails it directly to your target audience.

You can send everything from direct mail marketing materials to essential business documents using a hybrid mail solution like PostGrid. It means you can streamline your business’s marketing and communications efforts using PostGrid.

Utilising a hybrid mail service for your business can have many benefits. Some advantages of using an automated direct mail tool like PostGrid for your business include the following.

• Minimise hardware costs
• Minimise postage costs
• Boost accuracy and productivity
• Adopt a green (paperless) approach
• Boost customer satisfaction
• Enhance brand visibility and reach

What Are The Top 5 Reasons For Using Hybrid Mail For Your Business?

There are numerous reasons a business organisation might want to use hybrid mailing for its marketing and communication needs. Some of the more compelling reasons to use a hybrid approach for your mailing needs are as follows.

#1 More Money For You

Using a hybrid mailing service for your business may be expensive, but that’s not the case. Yes, employing a hybrid tool does mean an extra expense for your business organisation. But it also means you can save funds on other aspects, such as paper, postage, and printing costs.

Besides that, you can also avoid other expenses associated with bulk mailing, such as warehousing, setting up office printers, Etc. That’s not all. With advanced hybrid mail services like PostGrid, you also get the ability to pre-sort your mail. Doing so can help you get additional discounts from postal service providers, including Australia Post.

Moreover, an automated direct mail solution like PostGrid ensures no manual error when applying the address to the mailers. You can even maximise the deliverability of your mailers by using PostGrid’s address verification tool. Using a hybrid mail service with address verification is the ultimate combination to succeed in direct mail marketing.

#2 Make A Green Impact

Another significant reason to use hybrid mail for your business marketing and communication is that it makes a greener impact. It helps you ensure an eco-friendly form of communication even though you are using printed papers. Using an advanced direct mail solution like PostGrid enables you to reduce your company’s carbon footprint.

One of the ways hybrid mail solutions like PostGrid accomplishes this is by significantly reducing transportation. We have dedicated printers all over Australia and the rest of the world. Using local printers for business mailers minimises the need for transporting your bulk mail. It reduces the overall distance of travel made for delivering the mail, minimising the level of CO2 emission. 

The automated process also reduces the number of returned mail, which means minimal wastage. Besides, direct mail automation tools like PostGrid use FSC-certified and PCW (Post Consumer Waste) paper for all your marketing and communication needs. Doing so further reduces the carbon footprint of our hybrid mail service.

#3 Make More Time For Yourself

You cannot buy time for your business, and postal mail requires a significant amount of time. Using automation and hybrid mail solutions saves time for your business organisation. Earlier, it would take hours or even days just to put all your business letters inside an envelope. Today, an advanced tool like PostGrid can personalise letters in bulk and print and mail them with lightning speed.

Since the entire hybrid mailing process is automated, there is no glitch or pauses in the middle. Tools like PostGrid ensure a streamlined process that significantly minimises the time necessary to print and mail your business letters. Moreover, accurate and standardised addressing of your business letters also speeds up their processing leading to faster deliveries. 

#4 Avoid Monotonous And Unfulfilling Jobs

An automated hybrid mail solution can help you free up your manual processes and all the monotonous tasks that come with it. You don’t need to waste your employees’ valuable time with mediocre tasks like putting the mailer inside the envelope and addressing it. An automated solution like PostGrid can easily do it without errors.

A manual and monotonous task can lead to many errors. For instance, someone might put two mailers inside a single envelope. You could send an empty envelope to one of the audience, and the mailer goes to waste. Similarly, manually addressing the mailers is also prone to error. A hybrid mail service eliminates all such problems.

Even missing a single character in the postal code affects its deliverability. With hybrid mail solutions like PostGrid, you can ensure that the data printed on your business mailers are free from manual error. You can connect PostGrid’s direct mail API to your CRM solution and print the customer information directly. 

#5 Deliver Your Message The Way You Intend It

Another compelling reason for using a hybrid mail service for your business is its ability to convey your message accurately. Mailing your business letters using a hybrid-type system gives you much more control over your branding and messaging option. Advanced automated direct mail systems like PostGrid enable you to use standard templates and personalise them.

More importantly, tools like PostGrid enable you to manage everything centrally. It includes everything from your letter templates to your past mailings. Different hybrid mailing solutions may handle your printing and mailing operations differently. For instance, PostGrid uses a simple and easy-to-use dashboard from where you can control all aspects of your business mailing operations.

You can even track your business mailers using hybrid mailing solutions and keep a check on them every step of the way. As a result, businesses can maintain an accurate database and eliminate inaccurate data. Minimising the number of undeliverable mailers also saves you valuable time and resources. Besides, it ensures the timely and appropriate delivery of your business message. 

How Does Hybrid Mail Work?

The hybrid mailing solutions typically work the same way in most cases. Sometimes, you may come across tools that operate differently from others. The interactive design may change drastically with the means you use. But the process behind the curtains remains the same for all hybrid solutions for mailing.

Prepare A Template

The first thing you need to do before using a hybrid mail tool for your business communication is to prepare a template. Several advanced solutions like PostGrid give you access to a free template gallery and editor. You can quickly create a template and send your business mailers in such cases. Doing so can save you valuable time and resources.

But you can still create a template for your business letter even if your hybrid mail solution doesn’t offer a template gallery. You can use any of your favourite programs, including Microsoft Word, to design templates and convert them into PDF format. An even better idea is to use a designer to create a template that stays true to your brand logo and colours.

Upload The Template/Document

Now that you have the template for your business letter, all you need to do is to upload it. Typically there are two ways you can upload your document/template to your hybrid mail tool. One is through a web interface, and the other is through an app or API solution. Advanced hybrid tools for mailing, including PostGrid, offer a web interface and an API solution for sending your mail.

Using its web interface, you can quickly sign up for PostGrid’s automated direct mail solution. The advantage of using the web interface is that there is virtually no lengthy or complex process for setting up the system. You can immediately start sending your business mailers using the web interface. If you want to access hybrid mail solutions via the API, you may need some initial setup.

Although the initial setup is time-consuming, the hybrid mail API setup can benefit your business immensely in the long run. For instance, you can seamlessly manage your mailing operations from the backend. It gives you greater flexibility. You can even connect the tool to your CRM solution for quick and accurate personalisation of your business mailers.

Choose The Recipient Address And The Mailing Service

Once you upload or choose the ideal template for your business correspondence, you can select the recipients for them. In most cases, business correspondence involves sending bulk mail. Before choosing a hybrid mail tool for your business, ensure it supports bulk mailing capability. Without a bulk mail capability, you would have to send your letters individually, which is highly time-consuming.

Sending bulk mail for your business is significantly easy using hybrid mail solutions like PostGrid. You can put customer data to a CSV file from your CRM solution and use it for sending your business mailers. PostGrid’s direct mail solution lets you upload a CSV file and bulk mail your business letters with the click of a button.

Besides that, you must also choose a mailing service for your mailer. You can use a standard mailing service for your marketing mailers. But, consider using Registered Post for sending your crucial or time-sensitive business documents. With hybrid mailing tools like PostGrid, you can choose the appropriate mailing service for your business letters from the dashboard.

Printing And Mailing

Once you finalise the design for the letter and choose the relevant recipients, you can make the necessary payment. After completing the price for the hybrid mail tool, start to print your business letters, pre-sort them, and mail them via a postal service provider.

PostGrid uses high-quality printers and FSC-certified papers for printing your business mailers. More importantly, it lets your business access special discounts for bulk mailing by pre-sorting your letters. There is no scope for manual errors or high return rates. The entire mailing process is a hybrid mailing, thanks to automation.

#5 Tracking

Suppose you choose a trackable mailing service for sending your business correspondence by the mailer. In that case, you can quickly track it via your hybrid mail tool. For instance, the tracking option is fast accessible from the dashboard in advanced solutions like PostGrid. You can find a similar capability in most hybrid solutions, but the interface or how you access the feature can change.

Need help understanding what is hybrid mail and how you can implement it for your business using PostGrid? Schedule a free demo to see our advanced solution in action!

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The post What is Hybrid Mail appeared first on PostGrid.

source https://www.postgrid.com.au/what-is-hybrid-mail/

Postcode Finder

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How To Effectively Use An Advanced Postcode Finder For Your Business?

Almost every business organization requires customers to complete digital forms on their websites. It is especially essential in the eCommerce customer journey. Online forms are also where the user often makes mistakes leading to a low-quality address database. A postcode finder tool may help your customers by making their form-filling process easy and convenient.

Customers tend to fill out online forms quickly, which can often lead to errors or incorrect information in your database. Using a postcode finder tool makes it easier to provide their address details, including the postal code. Today, we will discuss the purpose of a postcode finder tool and how it can help you streamline your business communication.

This article will also explain how you can use an advanced postal code finder and how you can use it to grow your business and gain customer trust.

What Is A Postcode Finder?

Postcode finders allow companies and individuals to search and obtain postcodes within a country. You can use a postcode finder to determine the postcode of any town or suburb in Australia in an effortless way.

Australia Post offers its postcode finder that you can access for free. However, Australia Post’s postal code finder tool only provides essential features. It allows you to enter the name of a town or suburb and quickly find the postcode of that location. 

You can also use the tool to reverse engineer a postal code. Individuals and business organisations with basic requirements can make do with AusPost’s postcode finder tool.

A business organisation that extensively uses postal mail for its marketing and communication needs an advanced Address verification tool to validate its address database. PostGrid, for example, offers a powerful postcode finder that lets you do much more than just locate postcodes.

Postcode Finder Or Address Finder?

As mentioned above, organisations can use a basic postcode finder to meet only some of their business needs. The postal code finder only lets you find basic information about a postal code which has no natural effect on business operations.

Most advanced postcode finder tools like PostGrid are integral to a much more advanced address finder or verification solution. Instead of just letting you find the postcode of a location, it gives you access to a customer’s full address. 

That doesn’t mean that our address verification tool can pull fully verified addresses out of thin air. But with sufficient input data, PostGrid’s API can access Australia Post’s official address database and return confirmed addresses to your business. The postcode finder is just a tiny part of PostGrid’s address finder or verification tool. 

Furthermore, advanced tools like PostGrid give you access to additional features to streamline your business operations. For example, PostGrid provides you with an Address lookup API feature, a postcode finder, and other capabilities.

The Address Autocomplete or Lookup feature is ideal for streamlining the user experience on your website and its landing pages. It detects the user’s server location and text input to suggest verified addresses to the user. A dedicated postcode finder tool such as the one you get from AusPost can not give you such advanced capabilities.

How To Use An Advanced Postcode Finder Tool For Your Business?

An advanced postcode finder does much more than find the postcode of an address or location. Business organisations use advanced address verification software like PostGrid as their postal code finder. 

You already know how an address finder or address verification service helps business organisations streamline their operations. Here are some of the advanced capabilities you can access using an advanced postcode finder tool.  

Suggest Or Autofill Postcodes

A postcode finder’s primary feature is finding the appropriate address of the location or address you want. Businesses need more details than just the postcode to execute their operations. Companies use the postal code finder to suggest the postcode when their customer fills in an online form.

For example, you send direct mail to your customers with a QR code that leads to an online form. The advanced solution suggests the applicable postcodes when filling out the form, specifically the postcode column. It is an essential feature of a postcode finder and enables you to collect accurate details from the user.

Address Autocomplete

Most business organisations use a postcode finder to access the Address Autocomplete feature. As the name suggests, the purpose of Address Autocomplete is to present verified addresses to the user. Advanced address verification tools like PostGrid offer verified addresses as they fill in online forms, including checkout pages. 

The Address Autocomplete is ideal for eCommerce companies because it can minimise cart abandonment. Customers continuously seek more convenience, and the Address Autocomplete feature is perfect for this purpose. It is easy to implement the Address Autocomplete feature on your website using an advanced postcode finder software like PostGrid.

The process that happens behind the Address Autocomplete is simple. PostGrid’s system automatically detects the server location and text input when the user enters their address. The postcode finder tool accesses Auspost’s official address database and suggests the appropriate postal addresses in real-time. 

As a result, filling out online forms becomes significantly easier for customers thanks to the advanced postcode finder tool. PostGrid even offers a specialised Address Autocomplete API that can integrate seamlessly with your website and its landing pages.

Why Use PostGrid's Address Verification Solution For Your Business?

There are several advantages of using an advanced address verification solution like PostGrid as your postcode finder tool. Below, we discuss the most significant benefits of using PostGrid’s address verification tool for your business.

Enhanced Sales Opportunities

It is possible to lose sales opportunities if you send your marketing and communication letters to the wrong address.

You must consider every misdelivery as a missed sales opportunity because you never know when a target audience is ready to make a purchase. 

The more wrong or inaccurate addresses you have in your database, the more the chances of a missed sales opportunity. Hence, it is crucial to use an advanced address verification tool with a postcode finder to enhance the sales opportunity of your company.

Minimise Money Loss

Having wrong addresses in your database can often lead to money loss. You are wasting your money on direct mail that never reaches its destination. With PostGrid’s postcode finder tool, you can avoid the loss of a single undeliverable mailpiece for your business.

You can lower the return rate of your business mailers with an advanced postcode finder and address verification tool like PostGrid. With verified addresses, you can practically eliminate undelivered mail. It means you no longer have to waste money on paper, ink, shipping fees, etc.

Direct mail marketing campaigns may seem pretty successful if you can deliver only one or two marketing mailers. In addition, as your bulk mail campaign grows, the likelihood of undelivered mail increases. Bulk mailing carries substantial risk, primarily when your postcode finder is not automated. 

Form Better Relationships With Prospects And Customers

With an advanced postcode finder tool like PostGrid, you can ensure quick and prompt communication with your prospects and customers. No one wants your business to keep spamming them with irrelevant discounts and offers. All it takes is a simple typo in the address to send you a marketing message to the wrong person.

You must use our advanced address verification and postcode finder tool to ensure quick and accurate mail delivery. It can also lead to a mixup in your mailing process, and you interchange personalised mailers for two customers. Such mistakes can also affect your customer relationship negatively.

You can avoid such silly mistakes using PostGrid’s address verification solution with its direct mail automation tool. The advanced postcode finder and direct mail automation can work together seamlessly. As a result, you can ensure optimal delivery of your marketing and communication mailers with zero manual error.

Avoid Loss Of Resources

Sending your business mailers to the wrong address is not just a loss of money but also a loss of resources. You could lose a significant amount of resources by sending your mailers to the wrong address. We are not just talking about physical resources like paper and ink but also resources like time, workforce, Etc. It means you are losing valuable resources like time and workforce by not using an advanced postcode finder with automation capabilities.

When you regularly run bulk mail campaigns, the risk of wasting your company’s resources increases significantly. Not using an address verification and postcode finder tool can hold back your business operations including regular marketing and communication. All resources that are remotely associated with your mailing operations can suffer without validated postal addresses.

Protect Your Brand Image

One of the benefits of accurately sending your postal mail communication at the right time is its ability to protect your brand image. Imagine sending important or sensitive information to the wrong address. Such a mistake could ruin your company’s reputation. You can easily avoid such a situation from ever happening by using an advanced postcode finder like PostGrid.

For instance, healthcare documents or reports often contain sensitive information, and it is critical to maintaining confidentiality. Sending such sensitive documents could harm your reputation. PostGrid’s postcode finder ensures that this never happens to your business communication.

Additionally, our postcode finder and address verification software come with a bulk/batch address verification capability. It means no matter how many mailers you want to send, PostGrid can easily validate your addresses. Our advanced tool also supports address parsing, which cleans up your addresses with poor formatting. As a result, you always get a clean and professional-looking business mailer. 

Talk to our experts to learn how PostGrid’s postcode finder and address verification tool can help you ensure confidential business communications via mail.

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The post Postcode Finder appeared first on PostGrid.

source https://www.postgrid.com.au/postcode-finder/

Mail Delivery Business

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Mail Delivery Business: How to Choose the Right Vendor to Improve Your Shipping Activities?

Customers like getting marketing and transactional items via postal mail! And 81% of Australians read their mailers immediately, making the mail delivery business successful! 

But why does direct mail get more attention than email?

Though email is convenient and quick, direct mail allows recipients to pay more attention to the message. They do not need to dive into thousands of emails in their inbox to find a discount coupon or invoice from a brand. 

We also know that conducting a direct mail campaign is hectic and time-consuming. Thus, businesses can employ an automated mail delivery business like PostGrid to get

• Worldwide print and mail services. 
• API integrations with your favourite CRMs. 
• 100% electronic marketing, transactional, compliance mail, etc. 

This blog discusses the benefits of a mail delivery business and how to select the right vendor to match your expectations and goals!

What Is a Mail Delivery Business?

Earlier, companies launched in-house marketing campaigns wherein their staff handled all the manual tasks. These activities included everything, from printing mail items and stuffing them into envelopes to affixing postage and carrying them to the Post office. 

A mail delivery business would help them distribute their mailers via postal services. But, they were still required to complete the other tasks of designing and printing items themselves. 

Luckily, a mail delivery business works differently today! B2B and B2C companies can automate their print and mail activities using online solutions like PostGrid. It allows them to conduct a well-thought campaign at the click of a button and enjoy the results effortlessly. 

Every mail delivery business provides you with different features. Some only help you send your items via Australia Post, while others assist you at every stage of the process!

Thus, be clear about the services you need from your vendor to make an informed choice. 

Benefits of Opting for a Mail Delivery Business

An automated mail delivery business enables companies to do better with their shipping processes and avoid waste of time and money. 

Here are some other benefits to give you the push you need to switch to an automated mail delivery business like PostGrid: 

Cut Clerical Work

Companies no longer need to hire additional admin staff to help them print and send bills to customers or launch a direct mail advertising campaign. They can use the services of a mail delivery business to eliminate manual work and automate everything on an effective online platform.

It also means your existing team members can focus on other business areas instead of worrying about logistics. 

Increase Efficiency

Manual work is always prone to mistakes! Your in-house team could spend days or weeks compiling a mailing campaign, and there could still be some errors or discrepancies.  

Switching to a mail delivery business enables you to improve overall efficiency and productivity. It lets you complete all your tasks online and not rely on a single person or team to do everything!

Avoid Buying Perishables

How often do you buy printing paper or ink cartridges to print customer contracts or bills? 

Do you use printing paper, stamps, labels, envelopes, etc., in bulk while preparing for a print and mail campaign?

If yes, you already know these perishables cost a lot! An effective mail delivery business can help prevent these additional expenses and streamline your shipping tasks! It allows you to outsource your work—and save tons of money, time, and effort!

Also, you don’t have to invest in a high-quality printer with the latest technology and spend on its maintenance. A mail delivery business ensures you can print all your items elsewhere and ship them to the correct recipients without doing anything!

Manage Brand Reputation and Consistency

Employing the solutions of a mail delivery business lets you manage your brand consistency across several campaigns. You can print promotional and financial items like invoices or customer statements of the same quality, improving your brand recall rates!

It also helps you maintain a positive brand reputation by sending professional and elegant-looking items. Remember that every discount coupon, marketing postcard, receipt, cheque, invoice, etc., represents your company. A mail delivery business allows you to produce and ship the best-quality items to your customers to improve visibility!

Things to Consider While Choosing a Mail Delivery Business to Outsource Your Shipping Activities

Below, we have enlisted the factors to consider when selecting a mail delivery business to handle your printing and mailing workflows:

Reputation

Do some research about the mail delivery business you want to select. You may check online reviews or talk to some people who are familiar with the industry. Try to base your decision on customer feedback and testimonials, but do not judge a vendor too much too quickly.

If you have reservations, opt for a free trial or get a demo. 

Prices

Select a mail delivery business that offers affordable pricing plans to meet your budget. Unlike in-house campaigns, these automated solutions help you avoid burning a hole in your pockets and launch a mailing program affordably. 

But every mail delivery business has different pricing plans, depending on the scope of services they provide!

PostGrid’s print and mail API offers flexible pricing plans to suit the requirements of all companies. You may contact our sales now to discuss your needs and get a quote!

Turnaround Time

The time a mail delivery business takes to fulfil your orders is another crucial factor you should consider. Choose a company that helps you send your materials on time and does not make you wait several days. 

PostGrid’s online mail delivery business has a standard SLA of two business days. But you can set your dedicated time expectations, and we can help you launch your campaign whenever you want!

Print and Mail Fulfilment

As discussed earlier, list your expectations from a mail delivery business and see whether a vendor matches them. It is advisable to choose an automated direct mailing company like PostGrid if you need end-to-end printing and shipping fulfilment. 

We enable you to do everything from design your items using our pre-built templates to distribution and tracking. 

Customer Support System

You might hit a few bumps while sending printed materials via a mail delivery business, so consider their customer support system in advance. Try finding answers to the following questions:

• Is your mail delivery business vendor proactive in responding to your queries?
• Can you contact them whenever needed and expect a helping hand?
• Are they willing to guide you throughout the printing and shipping process?

If not, decide whether you can manage everything without help. Otherwise, select direct mail services like PostGrid, having a 24 x 7 customer assistance system!

Ease of Installation or Setup

Your vendor’s onboarding process should not be complicated and puzzling. Instead, it should be self-explanatory and user-friendly. 

Also, the mail delivery business should offer a quick setup or installation process. 

PostGrid’s automated mail delivery business offers easy API documentation to help companies integrate our solutions into their existing CRMs in no time. They can also install our automation software on their device and avail themselves of our services to ship efficiently. 

Customisation

The mail delivery business you select should offer customisation options to help create items according to your preferences. Here are some examples:

• Paper stock
• Finishing choices
• Mailer types and sizes
• Variable data printing
• Envelope types, etc. 

PostGrid allows you to personalise your items by adding the variables you need. For example, imagine you want to send unique postcards with your customers’ names and the years they have spent with you. You can add your variable data as “name” and “number of years,” which would be different for every postcard. 

Your mail delivery business may not be equipped to offer such advanced features. Hence, consider these factors before you select a vendor!

Steps to Conduct a Print and Mail Campaign

After selecting your mail delivery business, it is time to assemble all the elements and launch your campaign.

Here are the steps to conduct a successful mailing program:

Design a Comprehensive Plan

Define your campaign objectives in advance because they form the foundation of your mailing activities. They help you make all the decisions about the services of a mail delivery business and how to employ them. 

Your goals also dictate when you should send your mailers and to whom. 

Listing your expected results beforehand lets you settle on the campaign volume, type, mission, etc. 

Audience List

Compile a mailing list of your intended recipients or ask your mail delivery business to help you. It depends on the purpose of your mailing program. For instance, a marketing campaign would require you to send promotional mailers to your prospects. Transactional mailing campaigns would demand a list of your existing clients to send invoices, contract renewals, etc.

Artwork

Your mail delivery business may not have a design team to help with your campaign artwork. And others might charge a fee for these additional services. In such cases, you can hire a designer and instruct them to create something that can fulfil your requirements.

It would need you to spend extra as designers charge anywhere between $10 and $100 hourly. Also, there might be friction while making edits or last-minute changes. 

Fortunately, PostGrid’s print and mail services offer free, professionally-designed templates to let you create artwork in minutes!

Response or Performance Metrics

Decide which response metrics you want to add to your mailers to help recipients respond. These elements also allow you to measure your campaign results. 

Some mail delivery business vendors help you add custom QR codes or pURLs as a CTA for your marketing or financial mailers. 

They encourage readers to respond instantly, helping you drive engagement and improve ROI!

PostGrid’s direct mail solutions help you skip worrying about these steps because you can do everything using the same platform. You need not find different vendors for design and printing or negotiate quotes with every mail delivery business for weeks to get the best deals!

How Does PostGrid’s Print and Mail API Help You Send Offline Mailers Conveniently?

Our online mail delivery business helps companies from all sectors, including healthcare, real estate, retail & eCommerce, insurance, financial services, etc. 

It empowers these businesses to draft, print, and ship their mailers under the same roof without bearing manual effort. 

Here is how one of our clients generated a response rate of 55% using our automated mail delivery business to send marketing letters:

They are a leading player in the real estate industry and had to send items, like

• Property listings
• Form 1098
• Privacy notices
• Probates & informational materials about inherited properties
• Yellow letters
• Marketing letters, etc. 

The client first contacted PostGrid to use our mail delivery business services to send official and compliance-related documents. But, they also decided to conduct a marketing campaign to increase brand awareness and expand their customer base. 

Below are the features they used to make their campaign successful:

• Deliver bulk items: PostGrid allows you to send one or a million mailers with the same speed and efficiency. Also, it helps you get bulk discounts on high-volume orders. 

• Unique mail identifier: Unlike most mail delivery business vendors, PostGrid helps you add barcodes to your items to track them in real-time. It also helps presort your materials to speed up the delivery process. 

• Check campaign progress: Our mail delivery business solutions let you view your campaign reports at all stages. You can always stay informed and finish the following tasks accordingly.

• Print high-quality items: PostGrid’s network of reputed printers help you produce your promotional materials in the best quality possible with appealing finishing and coating. 

• Australia Post mailing: You can use the services of our mail delivery business to send your items via postal shipping options. Also, you can opt for add-ons like a signature on delivery. 
• Address verification: Businesses can verify their mailing lists with PostGrid before mailing for free. We guarantee a 99.99% delivery ratio, ensuring you do not get mail returns. 

Our client benefited from the above mail delivery business features and sent nearly 2,800 mailers for their first direct mail marketing campaign. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with almost 1,540 people responding within only six days of the program’s launch. 

Are you interested in getting a quote or discussing how PostGrid’s online mail delivery business works? Sign up here. 

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source https://www.postgrid.com.au/mail-delivery-business/