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Date: 2009
Type of Promotional Material/Activity Tested:
Day of the week direct mail is received and consequent consumer response.
Sample Population:
(UK) Royal Mail Consumer Panel run by TNS Global since 1985, measuring all consumer activity in relation to Royal Mail including full details of all mail received and sent daily. The panel is based on a representative sample of 1,000 UK households (from a live panel of 1,350 households), reflecting Great Britain’s age and social class and geographic spread.
Methodology:
Diary-based household survey collected January-December 2008
Top-Line Results:
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- UK mail volumes vary considerably by day. The weekday average for the number of direct mail items received in UK averages 600 million pieces.
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Day
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Amount of UK Mail Rcvd.
(in millions)
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Monday
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629
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Tuesday
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508
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Wednesday
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637
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Thursday
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649
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Friday
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658
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Saturday
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381
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- Consumers receive less direct mail on a Saturday compared with other days of the week.
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- Consumer response to direct mail varies by day. The number of consumers who have done something in response to receiving direct mail is highest on Saturday (29%). Monday mail elicits lower levels of response (26%).
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- Response rates tend to vary less across the week when direct mail items "set aside for reference" are excluded. A slightly lower proportion of items are met with a positive response on a Monday.
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- Consumers are more likely to respond to financial direct mail received on a Saturday (22%). Direct mail delivered on a Monday had the lowest response rate (15%). Other weekday response rates: Tuesday (16%), Wednesday (18%), Thursday (17%), and Friday (16%).
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- Consumer response rates vary less to financial direct mail when items "set aside for reference" are excluded, although a slightly higher proportion of mail delivered on a Saturday results in a positive reaction (4%, as compared to a 3% response rate on Monday-Thursday, and a 2% response rate on a Friday).
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- UK direct mail response rates from 1998-2008 have continued to average around the 5% level.
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Take-Away: This study asks the question "Does the day that direct mail lands on the consumers' doormats play a big part in its success?" The key findings include consumers receive far fewer items of direct mail on Saturday and that financial mailings that arrive at the weekend achieve the greatest uplift in response rates.
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Complexity rating of original source: 1
(Complex statistical analysis scale: 1= none, 2= moderate, 3 = difficult)
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Mail Media Centre's Direct Mail Receipt and Response – Day of Week Analysis is available with free site registration.
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