Stamps.com 2012 Annual Report Download - page 8

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 8 of the 2012 Stamps.com annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 85

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85

Our PC Postage customers can also optimize their shipping operations in a number of ways including: (1) sending USPS packages with Hidden
Postage™, which hides the actual amount paid for postage (a useful feature for e-
commerce companies that may not want the recipient to see
actual shipping cost information); (2) reducing customer support costs by automatically generating and sending package delivery status e-
mails
to customers; (3) providing a complete record of all packages sent with the ability to retrieve delivery status information; (4) generating a single
bar-
coded form that represents multiple packages in a single shipment so that the USPS can scan the single form to accept all of the packages at
once and the customer gets a record that all the packages were accepted by the USPS; (5) adding our integrated package insurance; and (6)
processing large batch shipments via data import or database integrations. The ability to optimize shipping operations is particularly relevant to
our higher volume shipping customers.
Marketing of PC Postage
We target our PC Postage marketing at small businesses, home offices, medium-
size businesses and large enterprises, and within these segments
we target both mailers and shippers. We market our PC Postage services through the following channels:
Table of Contents
4
Affiliate Channels.
We utilize the traffic and customers of smaller web sites and other businesses or individuals that are too small to qualify
for a partnership directly with us by offering financial incentives for these small businesses and individuals to drive traffic to our web site
through a third party affiliate management company.
4
Direct Mail.
We send direct mail pieces to prospective customers with prospect lists purchased from third parties or obtained from partners.
4
Direct Sales
. We utilize a direct sales force for higher
-
priced Enterprise and Professional Shipper versions of our PC Postage service.
4 Offline Marketing Programs
. We utilize various other offline advertising and marketing programs including telemarketing, tradeshows,
retail and other programs.
4
Partnerships.
We work with strategic partners in order to leverage their web site traffic, marketing programs, and existing customer base to
distribute our PC Postage software. For example, these partnerships may result in a link to our website from a partner’
s website, a copy of
our software included along with a partner’
s software product, the distribution of our software at a retail location, or the bundling of our
software with a hardware device. Our partnerships include Microsoft, Avery Dennison, Hewlett Packard and the USPS.
4
Remarketing.
We remarket our services to former customers. Our remarketing efforts are generally focused on new features that may relate
to the reasons former customers stopped using our service. We utilize e-
mail and regular mail to communicate new features of our products
to our former customers.
4 Shipping Integrations. We market our services through integrations with e-commerce platforms, multi-
carrier shipping management
software, shopping cart software and other order-
entry management applications. Our shipping integration partnerships include Amazon, the
USPS, QuickBooks and others.
4 Traditional Media. We utilize television commercials and a variety of traditional and internet-
based radio endorsements to advertise our
service.
4 Online Advertising. We work with companies to advertise our services online through paid searches, banner ads, permission-
based emails,
and other online advertising vehicles.
4 USPS Referrals
. We utilize the nationwide USPS Account Manager network to market and sell our services to customers. We market to the
account managers by attending regional and national meetings and forums, and participating in local vendor calls. We also receive referrals
directly from the USPS website at www.USPS.com.
4
Enhanced Promotion Online Advertising.
We work with various companies to advertise our service in various places across the Internet.
This channel typically offers an additional promotion directly to the customer by the partner in order to get the customer to try our
service. This channel tends to attract more consumer oriented customers. We reduced our investment in the enhanced promotional channel
during recent years.
4