Bespoke Mailing Software helping deliver over 50% of bulk business mail in the UK

Situation

One of the UK’s leading logistics specialists providing services across Business Mail, Parcels, e-Fulfilment, Contact Centres and Doordrop Media both in the UK and internationally has been a long standing client for over 10 years.

Their parcel carrier management services provide customers with one point of contact for a range of carrier services, from tracked 24 hours to international services. With over 1.5 million square feet of fulfilment space across the UK, their fulfilment support continues to expand, offering their customers a high-quality and seamless e-fulfilment experience from the first click to final delivery. They continue to be market leaders in Downstream Access (DSA) mailing services handling over 50% of bulk business mail in the UK. Their range of mail services includes advertising mail services and Doordrop Media portfolio across targeting, distribution and sampling services.

Working closely with this client for over 10 years has resulted in a bespoke software solution, developed by Hopewiser, that delivers on their Downstream Access (DSA) sortation needs, while adhering to the Royal Mail strict DSA entry requirements.

As a DSA service provider, they replicate much of the trafficking of mail that Royal Mail’s network does. Unsorted mail is collected, sorted (via Hopewiser’s bespsoke sortation software) and bagged, and then delivered to the correct Royal Mail Inbound Mail Centre. The Royal Mail then process and sort for the “final mile” of delivery, where postmen and women then undertake the actual delivery of the mail to the recipient’s front door.

Using their own infrastructure to sort and carry mail, DSA allows this organisation to offer discounts when compared to Royal Mail pricing, especially when posting via one of the Mailsorted products.

The Royal Mail routinely makes changes to their services, amending existing services and adding new ones. The close relationship between the two companies, allows these changes to be incorporated quickly within their bespoke solution and take full advantage of new services as they are launched to the market.

Solution

Changes to the product often follow changes to the DSA services offered by the Royal Mail, some are mandatory changes, others the organisation chooses to adopt to take advantage of incentives often associated with new services.

The Mailmark economy service from the Royal Mail was launched in January 2021. This new service is designed to allow customers to defer delivery of their non-critical Mailmark letters. The aim under the service is that Royal Mail will deliver letters within four working days of handover. It is estimated that up to 45% of your Mailmark Economy posting is likely to be delivered the day after handover to Royal Mail.

Other recent changes have included new services for handling magazine subscriptions, a specific service for the handling of poll cards and a more generic service for handling partially addressed mail. As well as adding new services, the Royal Mail also require deletion of services, such as greenPost, which will cease being an active service in 2021.

“We worked closely with Hopewiser to amend our software to remove greenPost and include the new Mailmark Economy service. Hopewiser’s in-house developers know our system well, having written much of the code that makes it happen. Plus, the relationship we have with Hopewiser, ensures there is a seamless and fast communication channel between both parties, resulting in changes and enhancements being done promptly and accurately.”

Result

Hopewiser’s solution has helped the business stay compliant with Royal Mail legislation which means they are able to deliver over 50% of bulk business mail in the UK. Changes to the software can be continuous due to price rises and new products coming on board and having the strong relationship enhances speed and deliverability.  This is just one of the ways Hopewiser provide data quality services.

“Hopewiser are honoured to work so closely with their business and look forward to this relationship continuing for many more years to come.” Damon Forshaw, Head of Software Development Team, Hopewiser