The Postal Service is using technology to bridge the divide between physical mail and the digital world, New Products and Innovation VP Gary Reblin says.
For example, Informed Delivery — a My USPS service now being tested — sends customers an email each morning with images of the mail they’ll receive later that day.
“What we’re trying to do is evolve mail,” Reblin tells Federal News Radio in a new interview. “How can [we] enhance the mail and the experience? How can we use technology to make advertising mail even better?”
Informed Delivery also allows USPS to help businesses promote their products and services in new ways. A customer who gets a catalog with a coupon could click the image in their Informed Delivery email and begin shopping online immediately.
The Postal Service is testing Informed Delivery in New York City and Northern Virginia. Seventy percent of customers who’ve used the service open their email notifications within an hour of receiving them.
USPS plans to roll out the program nationally next year.
The interview is one of several segments being broadcast by Federal News Radio in July. Chief Postal Inspector Guy Cottrell was interviewed earlier this month.