USPS Announces QR Code Discount, Direct Mail Responds

The United States Postal Service announced they will offer a 3% discount on first class or standard presortedpostage for all letters and flats containing Quick Response (QR) codes during the months of July and August. This announcement comes as a delight to the direct mail industry, which stands to benefit not only from the discount but also the innovative barcode technology.

QR codes, popular in Japan for the past decade, are beginning to gain popularity in the States, especially in the advertising industry. The codes can be scanned by any smartphone and the scanning technology is available for free. Direct mail marketing firms see the USPS incentive as a launching point for the technology in their industry.

The 3% discount will be a great incentive for business owners to try out QR codes on their marketing pieces, says Joy Gendusa, founder of PostcardMania, one of the largest direct mailers in the country and winner of the 2011 USPS Creative Business Solutions award. The potential to reduce friction in the response process is too great to be ignored. Im personally very interested to see the impact this will have on our industry.

Gendusa says PostcardManias own marketing department will take advantage of the incentive, and she is encouraging her clients to do so as well by offering free QR code generation for all orders during the months of July and August, 2011.