Pitney Bowes 2011 Annual Report Download - page 6

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Pitney Bowes Annual Report 20114
signed agreements with 40 such firms, which collectively send out over 5 billion bills, statements and
account communications a year on behalf of more than 5,000 businesses and consumer brands. We will
continue to expand the amount of mail that can be delivered through Volly and make the service available
to consumers in the second half of 2012.
The future of mail
Recent news reports have painted a dire picture of the U.S. Postal Service and the future of physical
mail. While there is no question that the USPS faces serious operational issues, speculation that mail will
cease to be a vital communication channel is simply wrong. In 2011, the USPS delivered nearly 170 billion
pieces of mail, powering the trillion-dollar-a-year mailing industry.
Businesses know that their customers want to interact with them across multiple channels, depending
on where they are and what they are doing: paying a bill, confirming an order or checking out a sale.
Our strategy focuses on leveraging physical, digital and hybrid channels to yield a sum greater than its
parts. We are actively involved in conversations with the USPS, as well as with other posts worldwide,
to help define the future of this enduring communication channel.
We continue to invest in products and services that increase the value of mail and make it easier to
integrate mail with digital communications. For instance, our cloud-based Connect+® system enables
mailers to turn envelopes into powerful marketing pieces by printing full-color messages or a pbSmart
Code in the same pass as the postage. Our Print+ Messenger™ gives high-volume mailers the ability
to print personalized color marketing messages, logos and addresses on envelopes, while our new
Mailstream Wrapper™ creates envelopes “on the fly” during mail production. For high-volume mailers,
we also expanded our line of IntelliJet® printing systems in 2011. These digital color printers transform
routine mailings into personalized marketing pieces. Our new MarketSpace™ Web Platform adds even
greater potential value to these monthly statements by enabling mailers to sell space to third-party
advertisers for highly targeted marketing. We and our partner Media Horizons Inc. handle it all,
from brokering ads and analyzing available white space to matching recipients with each advertiser’s
target audience.
We also expanded our lineup of cloud-based SendSuite Live™ shipping solutions; with the rise of global
e-commerce and the accompanying increase in shipping, this area is increasingly important for us. With
a new technology-based consulting service from our Management Services business, recently named
among the world’s top 100 outsourcing service providers, we are also helping large businesses tackle
the costly and persistent problem of returned mail. According to industry research, nearly 2 percent
of all outbound USPS® First-Class Mail® gets returned each year, which translates into 1.4 billion lost
opportunities to connect with a customer.
We continue to invest in
technologies that make it easier
to integrate mail with digital
communications.