Not many people know that USPS already offers a hybrid postcard service. So far it is just a little niche product, but with potential for growth. We take a look at Austria Post AG, which has taken the idea of hybrid postcards a step further.
The Austrian Postal Service launched “e-Postkarte” (e-Postcard). e-Postkarte is a hybrid picture post card. It enables customers to submit their digital pictures from their mobile phones. Austrian Post AG prints and delivers the submitted picture as a physical picture postcard. Users can download free apps for various mobile phones. These apps can access the smart phone’s address book, easing the task to send a card to numerous recipients. For all other phones, Austria Post offers a website which is optimized for mobile browsing. The e-Postkarte can be personalized with custom text, and sent from all over Europe at a cost of EURO 1.99. Various payment options do exist.
Postal Sanity believes that USPS could expand the existing hybrid card service by
- Optimize the website for mobile phone browsing
- Offer free and easy to use applications for various smart phones (license from Austria Post?). By the way: USPS already has an iPhone App to locate post offices.
- Run a little campaign targeting the smart phone generation. Awareness enables impulse buying of this service (upon taking a funny picture)
On a finishing note: Some years ago, Australia Post run a very nice ad to revive letter writing. A similar ad could stimulate youngsters into sending a e-Postcard to Pops and Granny. The USPS hybrid postcard service starts at an attractive $1.25.
#1 by admin on June 22nd, 2010
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Posti (Itella) offers a similar service:
http://www.posti.fi/english/cardsandletters/cards/postcardbymobilephone.html
#2 by admin on June 22nd, 2010
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Posten (Norway) is doing the same. However, a smart-phone or downloading an app is not required. Instead of submitting an address, the sender submits (SMS) the picture along with the recipients phone number. Posten will perform an address lookup based on recipients phone number. The found address will be texted back to the sender, who must confirm it within 1.5 hours. Pretty slick!
http://www.posten.no/Produkter+og+tjenester/Brev+og+frimerker/23367.cms
#3 by admin on July 13th, 2010
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Are picture postcards by mobile phone a feasible business idea for USPS? USPS has the infrastructure already in place. What is needed is an easy to use mobile-app combined with convenient billing options.
There are various U.S. providers of “picture-postcards-by-phone”, but they lack the well trusted USPS brand recognition.
Postino requires no registration and you can send postcards to worldwide destinations. Postino has a print center in Italy and in the U.S. Payment is issued via PayPal.
goPostal offers an iPhone app to send picture postcards (4×6 inches and UV protective coating) within the U.S. for $1.29. An account registration is required.
Shutterfly offers picture postcards for $1.99
T-Mobile, Vodafone, E-Plus and O2 offer this service in Germany. It is based on the MMS format. The recipient’s address is typed into the text portion of the MMS
#4 by admin on October 30th, 2010
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Global Greeting Cards Market to Exceed US$30.4 Billion by 2015, According to a New Report by Global http://bit.ly/bwj1Ug