USPS uses data not only to ensure operations run smoothly, but also to help businesses make better use of the mail, Enterprise Analytics Vice President Isaac Cronkhite told the National Postal Forum (NPF) this week.
“Our mission is to provide the right information to the right people, at the right time,” Cronkhite said.
The Postal Service collects data through a variety of sources, including scanning and Intelligent Mail barcodes, and uses this information to power its Informed Visibility (IV) platform.
USPS employees, business customers and others can use IV to track mailpieces from the moment they enter the mail stream to when they are delivered, providing real-time location data at every point along the way.
The value for business customers is in the data’s marketing implications. By making their mailings more visible, marketers can time other messaging activities with the actual arrival of their mail to the customer.
The platform includes a flexible data option, allowing mailers to pick and choose the information they deem to be the most valuable to their business.
“Informed Visibility puts the power of information in your hands,” Cronkhite said, noting that more than 1,100 new mailers have signed up for the free service during the past year.
USPS also uses IV following emergencies, as the organization did last year when Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“As systems were being restored, we knew exactly where deliveries could be made, all the way down to the address level,” Cronkhite said.
NPF, the mailing and shipping industry’s largest annual conference, is being held in San Antonio.