Sharing New Data on Delivery Preferences from Keypoint Intelligence

09 Jul Sharing New Data on Delivery Preferences from Keypoint Intelligence

By Shelly Anderson

Keypoint Intelligence (KPI), a global data and market intelligence leader for the digital imaging industry and an organization that has been conducting longitudinal studies on consumer preferences for paper and digital communications, recently released their 2020 findings for their Annual State of Transactional Communications Survey. In this annual study,  KPI surveys thousands of consumers in the U.S. and Canada to ask about their bill, statement and notice delivery choices to provide high-volume mailers with data around customer channel delivery preferences.

The study found consumers are demanding the choice to receive BOTH print/mail and digital delivery of bills and notices. Consumers want the freedom to select their preference, even though enterprises continue to press for digital only delivery of bills and statements.

More interestingly, KPI found in their year-over-year study that younger respondents expect the option of both print/mail and digital delivery of their statements and bills. The studies do not are show a large increase in demand year-over-year to digital only delivery of statements, bills and notices.

KPI states this trend is most likely due to what they call Channel Fog and Channel Fatigue. With the increase in security concerns surrounding personal data being compromised, increased hacks on corporations and well-publicized reports of fraud and identity theft, consumers are feeling more vulnerable and unsure of the barrage of emails in their inbox. The growing maintenance of multiple accounts and passwords for all their billers as well as the large amount of emails flooding inboxes from each company (with not just the bill, but also excessive marketing and sales emails) is causing even the 18-34-year-olds to ask for paper/mail AND digital bills, statements and notices.

Believe it or not, COVID actually has increased the consumer desire to have both options of printed statements and digital statements. KPI found in their study that roughly 50% of all respondents – regardless of age or technology adopter type – had no desire to “go paperless,” and the greatest percentage was in the 18-34 age bracket, with 53%  tiring of being asked to “go paperless.” In the younger age bracket, when asked why they did not want to “go paperless,” 47% said they use the print/mail communications as a hard copy for record keeping, and that number increased to 67% for those over 55. Moreover, when pressed for more information, 33% of 18-34-year-olds stated mail was more secure than digital.

KPI also found over 50% of respondents, regardless of age, said they will pay their bills faster when delivered by their channel preference and over 35% said they would be less likely to miss a payment if they receive the bill in the physical mail. What consumers want is to access current bills/statements, past payments or bill history at their convenience.

As we move out of a trying time in our world, there seems to be a need for an even greater focus on managing customer service responses, keeping print/mail as an option and utilizing print to enable additional digital channels. Enterprise customers want and indeed expect the freedom to select their preferred communication channel. At DATAMATX, we continue to be focused on meeting customer preferences, serving our clients with both print/mail and digital document delivery solutions.