Door drop volumes

Two thirds of the way through the year, seems a reasonable time to review 2022 door drop volumes and general usage.

We all entered the year surrounded by uncertainty over the continuing effects of Covid and the ramifications for businesses across the land and whilst Covid is sadly still an issue, the cost of living has replaced it as the main talking point for many people.

Covid undoubtedly had an effect on many door drop users in the last year, but in both a positive and negative way. Many companies struggled, others flourished.

The media continually present a picture of general doom and gloom and I’m sure for many, many people there are real genuine concerns about the next year or so.

But having spent some time out in central London and Liverpool recently, there is also evidence of life pretty much as usual, so when predicting what the Autumn may bring, door drop volumes are difficult to gauge.

So is there an opportunity for companies to use door drop creatively to drive traffic in store and/or online; certainly!

Domino’s recently announced a fall in profits, but their reaction is to increase marketing spend in the Autumn. As one of the UK’s largest door drop users historically, they are laying down a marker to tackle the challenges they face, with door drop a key part of their solution.

I see no reason for many other advertisers, whether current or potential new users, not to look at door drop spend in the Autumn and am encouraged by two well-known names recently approaching us for initial discussions about the medium as new users.

So, just what does the market look like currently?

The DMA’s annual volume report for 2021 showed a household receipt average of 2.4, although our own monitor just tipped 4 items a week. Our monitor has year on year shown a greater volume than DMA reports and we believe that is primarily the effect of local business which is incredibly difficult for the DMA to measure.

So, after pretty much 8 months of the year, we currently stand at 3.6 items per week, just a small decline from last year.

Local door drop companies (including businesses who complete their own door drops) account for 77% of that volume, with Royal Mail Door to Door the remaining 23%.

Retail is the largest business sector with 32% of all items and is the largest contributor to the local business volumes and the second largest for Royal Mail.

Direct response items are Royal Mail Door to Door’s biggest business category, whilst being almost non-existent with local companies, for whom predictably local businesses are their second biggest user.

I’m genuinely surprised not to have received any charity door drops through Royal Mail, at a time when our own charity clients have been active in line with previous years. Its acknowledged that charities are having a tough time generally, but nevertheless, this was a surprise.

Charity clothes bags through local companies are another large part of their business, with the balance of items being public sector, political and one fmcg item.

So at this stage of year, our records are very similar to last year, but a challenging Autumn may be ahead of all of us.

However, JICMAIL continues to demonstrate the power and potency of the door drop medium, whether as a standalone medium or part of integrated activity.

As a company we also continue to flourish through existing and new business opportunities.

So why not think about door drops as part of your week to week marketing strategy? If you are also currently thinking about World Cup promotions or Christmas/New Year spend, it’s never too early start the planning process and bear in mind if you plan to use Royal Mail door to door, so may your competitors and would you want to lose your door drop areas to them?

Feel free to get in touch via the contact page on our website, call 01992 637333 and speak to Neal or Chris, or email sales@letterboxconsultancy.co.uk.

We will only be too happy to help.

Graham Dodd, CEO