With more vaccine fuelled positivity in the air, we have noticed an upturn in client contact about door drops in the last week or so.

Whilst at the same time there is no guarantee of how and when lockdown will be lifted, non-essential retail in particular appears to be gearing up for another re-start, with late March seemingly the favoured timing.

So we thought it might be helpful to set out a road map for those considering pre-Easter weekend (April 2^nd – 5^th) activity or during Easter week itself.

As ever, door drop start dates are dictated by your ability to deliver bulk print supplies to nominated destinations, so if you are thinking Royal Mail D2D here are some key dates –

Distribution w/c March 22^nd – bulk delivery deadline Friday March 12^th
Distribution w/c March 29^th – bulk delivery deadline Friday March 19^th
Distribution w/c April 5^th – bulk delivery deadline Friday March 26^th.

Team distribution working to the above bulk delivery deadlines will facilitate distribution starting on March 15^th, 22^nd and 29^th, so if like many of our clients you use a mix of Royal Mail and teams, technically you can start even earlier in the month if and as required, or just schedule your team drops to start on the same dates as Royal Mail.

The last Royal Mail booking date for w/c March 22^nd is Friday March 5^th – which is also the last date you can book using the current rate card.

The last Royal Mail booking date for w/c March 29^th is Friday March 12^th – by when you will incur a new rate card.

The last Royal Mail booking date for w/c April 5^th is Friday March 19^th.

Bookings by these dates should also ensure team availability, but our best advice is do not leave your booking until the last minute. Through Royal Mail the sectors may simply not be available because of competitive bookings or because sectors are fully booked, and similarly team capacity may be an issue.

So now is a good time to be thinking about your door drop plan and your print resource – something we can help with as well.

Involve us now.

Take the time to discuss your needs with us. Allow time for us to create a bespoke distribution plan perhaps having interrogated any customer data you are able to share with us.

That may result in determining your primary target, which particularly as a retailer, particularly if you have multiple locations, may differ slightly from area to area.

And determine a precise fix on where your customers emanate from to influence the reach of your distribution. Again there will be differences between locations, just think urban versus rural.

We will bring our decades of experience to bear on your requirements.

Once agreed, we can implement your door drop plan. Royal Mail D2D have introduced new Covid related, flexible cancellation clauses in the event that having opened our world up again, the science forces it to be closed again. We can guide you through those details.

So, all in all, is there any good reason for you not to be talking to us now?

Graham Dodd, Managing Director